capeandcowllogs | Appearances Deceiving

Appearances Deceiving

WHO: Raven

ladiesdigme
WHERE: A small, quiet café downtown.
WHEN: March 24th, early evening.
WARNINGS: ANGST. LOTS AND LOTS OF ANGST.
SUMMARY: Upon Beastboy's arrival, Raven sets up a meeting between them - desperate to know if he's the Garfield she had given her heart to, or someone else entirely.
FORMAT: Quick para?

Today... was hell.

Raven sat in the back of the small, dimly-lit cafe, surrounded by the scent of espresso, cinnamon, and vanilla rising into the air. It eased her a bit, allowed her to feel warmer than she had.
She picked at her cloak, the one she hadn't taken off since the night before - despite attempting to wash it in a hospital sink, the bit of blood on it still remained. It probably would remain right on the hem of it permanently... it caused her to smirk. She would forever be marked by this day in more ways than one, it seemed.

If a day spent anxious in a hospital wasn't enough, she was then jolted out of the dizzying spell by the one and only Garfield Logan showing up in The City. She already knew he wasn't the tall, handsome man she had slowly learned to love - but there was something inside of her that wished beyond all hope that the moment he walked in that door, he would be. He'd be there for her to rush into his arms, to take all these fears, all the pain away.

Her leg bounced rapidly against the floor beneath her in a nervous fashion.
... she would just have to wait and see.

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And disappointment would set in shortly.

The cafe was nice -- it was definitely something his Raven would have thought of for a meeting place. And apparently this Raven was no exception. It was a warm, calm place that seemingly eased him as well...wait. Who was he kidding? He was nervous as Hell. Gloved fingers twined together in a moment of anxiousness.

A peek around the corner, and there she was. Green-tinted ears perked. She was tall; fleshed-out. Adorned with that same dark cloak and the gleaming jewel upon her forehead. For a moment, he felt inclined to race to her arms -- to treat her as if he hadn't seen her for a very long time...however, that notion disappeared as he spoke.

"Uh...eheh. Heya~ Long time, no dark-depressing chat?"

This person was a stranger. But her aura seemed nostalgic.

He was short. It was the first thing she noted the difference in the moment she looked up to meet eyes with him. The Garfield she knew was at least two inches above her.
The skin was obviously the same, perhaps even the hair if she looked for enough similarities. The ears - definitely.

Her fingers twitched just slightly as she felt a burning sensation in her chest, trying to fight back obvious disappointment on her face however. She knew he wouldn't be the same one, she had been able to gather that from talking to him earlier - why was this so hard?
"Hello."
It was all she could manage to utter out.

"Well, I mean...I guess, ah. We haven't really spoken before -- except, like, that conversation when I first got here but, you know...that really don't warren--hi."

His rambling was cut short. Like his stature.

Almost immediately this seemed like a big idea. Like, a mega terrible one. She had mentioned knowing him, and, he had to wait for her to spell it out before he even knew who she was. Maybe he had fallen into some creepy doppelganger trap? No, that was silly. She still felt like the same person...it just had to be her!

"Dude, not cool. I get another chance to introduce myself and impress Raven and I end up lookin' like an idiot again."

A sheepish grin -- maybe he'd actually get a chuckle out of the girl, in the very least?

She managed to laugh just slightly, enough to make a noise that would accompany the smile on her face. Shaking her head she used her foot to push out the chair across from her, a silent motion for him to sit.

"Hardly an idiot, you're nervous. Anyone would be this nervous for... this sort of meeting, yes?"
She gently pulled back the hood of her cloak, allowing it to rest on her shoulders.

"And I suppose we have already determined that we are not the same versions of one another that we are accustomed to."

A grin was plastered over his face at her response.

Well, not really a grin. More like a genuine smile.

"Yeah, oh-wait. No, of course not. I'm a smooth operator, you know." A raise of his shoulders in the form of a nonchalant shrug, and he meandered toward the offered seat, plopping rather characteristically against the support. Green eyes tipped upward to scan her face, and definitely that body, gulping a bit under her clear gaze.

"...Yeah. Who am I kiddin'. Of course I'm nervous...I mean...here I am, plopped into this place I know nothin' about, and when I finally think I've got somethin' that might bring me closer to home, it's pulled away again."

A wild gesture of hands.

"I'm not sayin' I'm not happy I've met you, though! It's actually pretty cool!"

She could catch a hint of her Garfield's joking tone in his voice - it was just enough for her to cling onto for a bit of hope in this situation. He wasn't what she was hoping for, expecting to see, but --- he seemed sweet enough.
... Garfield would want her to treat this boy with kindness.

"The easiest way for me to explain The City is that it is... an alternate dimension of New York City. Many of the things are identical to the one you most likely know, however people have been pulled from different worlds, times, and realities to take care of it."

She gives a soft shrug as she resumes playing with the edge of her cloak - it would most likely develop into a new habit, now that she knew that stain was there.
"You'll find most the titans are pulled from different realities - I'm fairly sure that Robin is from my own, or at least one similar enough."

The tug would go unnoticed -- he never was able to sense things like that very easily. All-in-all, he just peered toward her, taking in the marvel of his friend right before him. Even if it wasn't really her. It was actually pretty depressing.

"I get what you mean...I suppose I won't be able to find my friends that easily, now, will I?"

There was a defeated sigh as he momentarily looked down at his knees -- he'd been through this "not-knowing-who-someone-was" and this lost, distracting feeling way too many times for it to be healthy. Just look at him! He does seem a bit green. Not healthy at all.

"Robin...and I thought just maybe he'd know me, for sure. Well, I guess it isn't too bad...I still have friends in unlikely places."

A sheepish grin.

She throws a slight glance up at him and smiles softly, "Spoke to Tim already, huh? It would figure he would be on top of keeping all of the titans together - he takes pride in that."

Her emotions get the best of her as she releases a rather depressed sigh, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as she stares out a nearby window. Her thoughts weighed down heavily on her, there was far too much going on - on top of that she knew she physically looked exhausted and emotionally drained. In fact, she probably looked like a disheveled hell - clothing not changed and hair not touched for a near twenty-four hours now.

"You must forgive me if I seem to be in a negative mood. There have been some terrible things happening of late that I have had to deal with." a reassuring smile towards him, it would be the best he could get now. "I haven't slept well for quite a few days either."

"Well, kinda...I mean, he actually, uh...sent me a transmission while I was asleep, so..."

And he trailed off. He could go on about how he didn't rightly have a home at the moment, and him sleeping was in an alley, curled around his communicator as a little green dog. But, he thought it best not to go into that. The girl didn't seem very well off, herself, which she happened to voice.

Almost immediately, he threw his arms upward, waving dramatically as if to claim her attention.

"No, no-no-no-no-NO! You're not being negative at all! Dude. I'm used to creepy, dark, scary Raven who seems like she rolled out of the wrong side of the bed all the time! But, with you..."

He tossed on a smile.

"...You just seem like you weren't in bed at all. Which, I guess is true, by what you've said."

"So your Raven has yet to be freed from her father's grasp then..." her words were spoken at a low volume - enough for him to hear, but for those around them to not. "Once that happens, she will be free to express her emotions as she pleases, but until then, she's unable to due to her powers."

She sighs again - she honestly felt bad for this boy if that was the case. She knew she was hardly a beam of sunshine when she was bound by her father's curse, no wonder he looked at her so strangely when she expressed herself.

"Truth be told, I am still learning how to properly express my emotions to their fullest extent. It is a learning process when they have been banned from you for your entire life."

"Her dad was, uh. Psycho."

That was pretty much all he had to say about that. And, it was the truth. Being the daughter of a daemon was a pretty hard thing to live up to, and he knew that, now. Raven had never let him know about how her emotions needed to be bottled up -- just that she did it.

His knees curled upward to let his elbows rest atop them, peeking over his clothed arms as he watched her. "I wouldn't be able to do it...I mean, look at me. I can barely contain anything..!"

"Well if that is the case, then you have peaked my curiosity." She paused only momentarily to thank the waitress for filling up a cup of coffee for her, and then proceeds to add some sugar to it as she continues to speak. "I know that other titans come from worlds where certain people do not exist, or have yet to come into their lives."

Picking up a spoon she began to slowly stir the steaming liquid.
"If this is the case with you, then who, per se, is in your team of titans, aside from versions of me and Tim, of course."

She lifted the cup to her lips as she awaited his reply, taking a slow sip.

"Oh, well. It's just the five of us..!" Their waitress turned her eyes to the boy and offered him some of the hot liquid as well, which he raised a hand to and smiled: "Just some iced water is fine for me..."

He waited momentarily before continuing their conversation, still peeking over his knees as he did so.

"Raven and Robin -- myself. There's Cy and Star, too! It's just us in our tower, but...that's not including everyone we've met...it's actually a pretty big list."

There was a grin at his recollection of friends, before looking down, as if to finally realize the situation. "I, ah...I might not see 'em again, will I?"

She nodded as she listened, attempting to piece together a mental image of his team in her head - it was hard, as it was missing some key members that she had always known to be there.

"Who is to say? There are those that have been here for quite a long time, who are getting settled. I, myself, have decided to try and live a second life here to the best of my abilities, as to not waste away the time I am alive. If I am returned, then I am returned. If not, at least I have a life created here to live in."

She paused, realizing she had gone on a bit of a ramble, and turned her attention back onto what he had been saying. Five of them, hmm?
... Wait.

"Robin and Starfire." she paused to point her spoon slightly at him as she spoke. "Are they a couple?"

Uncurling himself from his seat, the boy reached over to wrap his gloved fingers around his water-glass. Bringing it to himself, he nodded before taking a sip...was it different for her? She wasn't with all of them? Or, maybe she had more members in her team. He'd have to ask.

However, he nodded, and spoke up after her "rambling." -- "Yeah, that's what I say, too! I mean...of course, I'm gonna be worried and sad and stuff. That's like. A given." A flashy of his toothy grin. "...But I can't do anything about it. I've got to lead my life wherever it takes me -- even if I have to do it alone for awhile..."

He had rambled, himself.

Taking another sip, he heard her next question, almost spurting the water through his nose as he laughed sharply. "Ahaha! That's a good one! You really think they'd be together? Well, I don't know...Robin is always obsessively working to get criminals...I dunno if he thinks about it, much. Star, though...I think she really likes him..."

He peeks downward.

"...Then again, they don't rightly tell me stuff like that, soooo..."

She lets out a very soft smile, a distant look coming into her eyes as she listens, almost in rapture by the thought of it. The team she had known for so long had mostly gone off to do their own things, there were new titans now - she somewhat missed the old days.

"Well if there's any interest between them, it makes me wonder if the Robin you have is actually Dick, and not Tim. There's quite a few of them." resting her cup down on the table, she sighed slightly. "Dick became Nightwing in my world... kind of went on his own thing for awhile. Tim took over from there."

That had probably made no sense to him, but it did bring her some comfort in knowing Dick was still a staple figure somewhere, even if it was an alternate reality to her own.

The boy hummed to himself momentarily -- so there was more than one Robin, huh? Well, he had seen that pretty clearly over the coarse of the day. If there was more than one Raven, then, of course there'd be more than one Robin. There went another sip of his water.

"Well, yeah. He's Dick...we know that much." He let his index and thumb rest against his chin for a moment. "I'm pretty sure they like each other, actually -- just not comin' to terms with it to each other. That, or they think it's gonna get in the way of work..."

It was almost as if a light-bulb switched on.

"W-wait...is there, a, uh...'Terra' in your world at all..?"

A peeking, innocent look.

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Appearances Deceiving

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