Raven

After storming out on Dinah and Momoko the night before, Raven had retreated to the netherverse, but she found little solace there from the chaos of her emotions. It wasn't like it had been with her father trying to influence her. That she had known was wrong, and she'd fought it as hard as she could. This was more subtle and insidious, as Eric preyed on her own desire for affection and acceptance.

She knew Dinah and Momoko would never hurt her. But neither would Eric. He couldn't be fooling her empathy, could he? Desperate for answers -- and comfort -- she went directly to Eric's apartment once she emerged from the netherverse.

[For those who know who they are. Warning: extremely dubious consent issues. Also imminent but well-deserved violence.]

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!]

The good thing about not declaring at major at Gotham University meant Raven could pretty much take any course that caught her eye. This morning she had "Charms, Rituals and Speech Acts: Theories of Magic in Performance," and she settled in for the lecture, welcoming something to focus on other than Fandom and Triela (and the headache she'd gotten from shielding out all the drunken partying in the dorms last night for some sort of sporting event -- she'd been so terribly confused at first at people hollering out her name).

The room was large enough to allow her to sit by herself as she generally preferred, and she was surprised when someone actually sat down right next to her. And even more surprised when the person said, "Hey, gorgeous."

Raven glanced up from her notes. The owner of the voice was someone she'd seen in class before, usually cozied up to another female student. He looked to be a few years older than her, a senior perhaps, with dark hair that reached his shoulders and blue eyes that -- and she'd tell herself she was silly for thinking that later -- for a moment seemed to see right into her soul. "Hello," she said, unable to help but blush a little.

"You always look like you take good notes," he said, grinning at her. "I missed the last class because I was sick. Can I borrow yours and copy them?"

She had to fight an instinctive urge to ask him if he wanted her to heal away any lingering illness. No one at Gotham University but Dinah knew she could do that. "My notes? I -- yes, of course, I would be happy to assist you in learning what you missed," she said.

"Is that an offer to tutor me?" he said, grin growing. "Because I don't know if I'd be able to focus on studying with someone as hot as you teaching me."

Raven blushed even more and ducked her head, focusing on flipping through her notes to hide the redness of her cheeks. "I believe this is what you require," she said, pulling out what she'd written down during the last lecture. "Please return them to me at our next class."

"Sure, thanks, babe," he said. "Your name's Raven, right?" At her nod, he caught one of her hands in his and lifted it to his lips. "Eric Forrester," he said, kissing the back of her fingers.

"It is nice to meet you," Raven said, flustered by his attention as she pulled her hand back. She was relieved when he got up and moved to another seat a few rows behind her. Then the professor began class, and she put it all out of her mind.


[Establishy but open for text/phone calls/anyone who happens to be on the Gotham U campus.]