New Gotham, early Thursday night

[trigons_child]

Raven was nervous about her not-date with Eric, particularly after he appeared at her dorm room door with a bouquet of roses for her. She could sense his obvious interest in her, of course, and she didn't want to give him a false impression of hers. But her thoughts of that faded when she saw the fancy vegetarian restaurant he brought her to for dinner. "How did you know I was a vegetarian?" she asked, pleased with his selection. "I do not remember telling you that."

Eric smirked. "You are? I'm one, too, and this place has got a lot of great dishes. It's one of my favorites."

"Really?" Raven said, surprised. "I would not have guessed that. Most of my friends are not vegetarians."

He made a face. "Sometimes I think about goin' all the way, goin' vegan, but I don't know if I can do that. But eatin' meat, yuck." He gave an exaggerated shudder.

Raven couldn't help but smile at that. She didn't at all begrudge her friends who enjoyed eating meat, but it was refreshing to dine with someone who shared her aversion to it for a change. "I was raised a vegetarian," she said, "but milk and eggs and cheese were not forbidden." Leather hadn't exactly been common in Azarath, either -- she'd developed that weakness in Fandom, and sometimes had to wrestle with her conscience about it.

"C'mon, babe," Eric said, taking her arm and escorting her through the door. "Anything you want tonight, it's yours."


[Continued in the comments. Emotional manipulation, ahoy!]

Comments

[trigons_child]

The evening passed pleasantly enough, and as they talked about themselves, Raven was even more surprised to find the things they had in common. She had to be vague about details about her upbringing and Fandom, of course, but he freely told her how he'd been raised in a small town by just his mother because his father had abandoned the family and he was an only child. They had very similar tastes in music, and he had a secret fondness for Rumor Gal.

"I've got the DVDs," he admitted with a grin as they left the restaurant and began to walk back toward campus. "Come back to my place tonight and we can watch them."

"I am not certain that is a good idea," Raven said, though she surprised herself by how tempted she was. She felt strangely at ease in Eric's company.

[souleatingrobot.livejournal.com]

"C'mon, babe," Eric urged. "We'll just watch a few episodes. Nothing else...unless you change your mind."

[trigons_child]

Raven shook her head. "I do not want to give you the wrong idea, Eric," she said. "I have enjoyed this evening very much, more than I thought I would, but...."

[souleatingrobot.livejournal.com]

"But what?" Eric said. He stopped and drew her from the sidewalk to a darkened storefront. "I get it, you got your heart broken," he said. "That sucks. I'm not gonna lie and say I don't want you. But no pressure."

[trigons_child]

Raven looked away. "You barely know me," she said. "It is only lust you are feeling. I am very flattered that you desire me, but that is not the way my heart works."

[souleatingrobot.livejournal.com]

He raised his hand to cup her cheek and turn her face back to him so he could stare down into her eyes. "It's more than that, Raven," he said. "I've been with lots of girls. I'm not gonna hide that. But you, you're different. I wanna spend time with you. I wanna know everything about you. I think I'm falling in love with you. You're beautiful, and there's just something special I can feel about you." He leaned in to kiss her.

[trigons_child]

His lips came down on hers, softly at first, then more demanding. Raven closed her eyes and for a moment tried to lose herself in it, but she pulled away, not understanding why she felt so conflicted. She couldn't love him -- she barely knew him. She was just starved for affection, but she couldn't let herself fall into that trap again.

"Eric, please," she said, her heart racing. She felt dizzy and had to hold on to him for support lest she fall.

[souleatingrobot.livejournal.com]

Eric bent his head to kiss her forehead, dangerously close to her chakra. "You're amazing, Raven," he said. "Anybody who'd let you go is out of his mind. I never would. Come home with me and let me show you how incredible you are."

[trigons_child]

Raven swayed, still dizzy, on the verge of saying yes. She'd thought when she'd first met him that he could see into her soul, and now he was seeing into her heart, telling her everything she craved. No matter how many times she told herself to be strong and to swallow her emotions and throw herself into studying and training with Prince Lucivar or Dinah, she couldn't deny the desire to be wanted and the loneliness that had been lurking inside her, even before she'd left Fandom.

Choked with emotion, she couldn't speak, but tears started to well in her eyes.

[souleatingrobot.livejournal.com]

"Don't cry, babe," Eric murmured. "Let me make it all better. You know I can, don't you?" He tilted his head to kiss her again.

[trigons_child]

Raven finally managed to find the strength to fight through the chaos in her head and heart. "Perhaps," she said. "But...not now." She drew back, wiping her eyes and trying to compose herself.

[souleatingrobot.livejournal.com]

"All right," Eric said reluctantly. "But the night's still young. Why don't we go for a walk?"

[trigons_child]

"Some of my friends are participating in what they call a 'pub crawl' tonight," Raven suggested. "They have invited us to join them. Would you like to do that?" Despite her confusion, she was reluctant for the night to end as well.

[souleatingrobot.livejournal.com]

"Sure, anything to keep the night going, babe," Eric said. "And I'd love to meet your friends."

[trigons_child]

Raven found a smile. "They are at The Library now. I think it is close enough that we can walk."

She didn't resist when Eric took her hand as they started to move down the street. It felt comfortable. Maybe she shouldn't be fighting this after all.