I have no audience and no sounding board. Thus, LiveJournal and the possible lurk!friends who might see this will have to involuntarily serve until further notice.

I'm trying to work some shit out for my fic Under the Skin. I've been sitting on my damn thumb on it for a year because I can't get chapter three to damn START right.

That is, however, not what I want to poke at on it right now. I have two ideas for it involving brief appearances of Red X (he's not meant to become a key player in any way, but it wouldn't surprise me if he wrote himself that way when I wasn't paying attention). The scenes have been vague in my head for some time, and I would like to try and give them a bit of... definition. Anyone out there peeking in, ANY feedback would be HUGELY appreciated.

So.... Scene 1

The setup: it's a week, maybe two (probably at least two) after Raven's rape. She's mostly healed up, looking, for all intents and purposes, much like her usual old self. She's TRYING to act like she's okay, or getting there. She's always been a damn fine actress, but of course, nobody is quite convinced. Which doesn't help. If one more dearly beloved friend asks her with kindly concern if she's all right, she's going to lose her shit altogether.

During this time, crime has not taken a vacation. In many Teen titans stories, all the petty criminals and villains of Jump City and suburbs seem to take a powder whenever something happens to the Titans or they need a convenient break to have emotional drama occur in. I've been guilty of this device, because it is awfully convenient. However, this story is one I want to keep fairly "real", which means that nobody gets cut a break when they need it, ever, especially not superheroes. So Star, Robin, BB and Cy have all been off having to handle baddies and assholes short one teammate, short at least two in the first week when they refused to leave Raven in the Tower alone for even a minute.

So Raven now decides that the best way to convince everyone she's fine and get them off her back--not to mention prove to all and sundry (especially herself) that she may have been violated, but she will NOT allow her rapist to scar her beyond repair--is to get back in the game. None of them think she is ready, but she announces it when the alarm sounds, and no one has time (much less the heart) to really argue her out of the decision. Besides, it's just Red X being a nuisance again. The five of them against one not-as-bad-as-most-of-them thief. What could really go wrong?

It always goes wrong.

The team gets to the building Red X is looting before he has managed to leave. It's some high-tech paranoia agency corporation type place. Red X shut off all power in the place to kill security. Cyborg has to hack their way in, and the door does not remain open behind them. X isn't getting out of here quick or easy, and he can't avoid five Titans in one building.

The Titans split up. Raven is paired with Starfire. Something occurs to split them up. a wrong turn, a booby trap, something. Before they realize it, they've lost each other It's utter darkness in the place, and every room and corridor is soundproofed for security purposes. Even the Titan communicators are having a hard time connecting to each other without massive amounts of static and breaking up.

In the close, stiflingly quiet dark, Raven begins to realize she's not quite as ready for this as she wanted to believe. She keeps thinking she's hearing little whispers, little quiet, snide chuckles, accompanied by the ghosts of fingertips under cloak, under her leotard, under her skin.

She's beginning to work herself into a state of serious anxiety when happenstance rains down shit from the sky.

Red X has entered the corridor, and sees a Titan before him, their back to him. Looks like Raven. She's always so fun to just try and bother, with her unruffled calm. He hasn't gotten a chance to taunt this particular Titan in a couple of months, and that's half the fun of the game. And really, how careless, her back turned without realizing there was an unfriendly in the vicinity. He closes in on her silently, unable to stop a little chuckle to himself when he's right behind her and she still hasn't realized. He reaches out...

Raven has been standing in place for five minutes, trying to breathe in rhythm and mentally running through mantras, desperate to convince herself she's not hearing what she thinks she's hearing and not feeling what she thinks she's feeling. All she's succeeding in doing is second-guessing herself and her own sanity. And then, suddenly, right behind her, practically right in her ear, a low breathy chuckle, and a hand snatches her wrist, begins to twist her arm behind her back--

Raven chokes out a half-strangled shriek, whirling around with the direction of the twist, her other hand flinging out, glancing off her assailant's chest as she releases from the palm a weak, fizzling burst of energy to push him away--away, get away--

Red X is so startled by her terrified, weak response he lets go of her wrist immediately, stumbling back a few fumbling steps with the small force of her energy blast. She stands--more cowers, hunched into herself, skin paler than pale and eyes huge and panicky, hands raised defensively--before him, visibly shaking. "Jesus Christ," he whispers. The way she just reacted--it makes him think of a rumor he's been hearing in the last weak, a vague, ridiculous, awful rumor... but it cannot be true--"Are you--" he reaches a hand towards her, off balance and thrown off the game in confusion and, of all things, concern, but at the sudden movement of his extended arm, she startles like a feral cat, jerking backwards, her heel catching the hem of her cloak and bringing her down in a tangle of cloth and unsteady limbs.

X lifts his hands before him in the universal "ceasefire" gesture, stepping just a bit closer and beginning to lower into a crouch when a harsh voice barks out behind him--

"Get the hell away from her. Right now."

Red X straightens and turns, staring incredulously at the rigid and thunderously scowling Robin behind him. He raises his hands again, then motions them indicatively towards where Raven is still a hyperventilating heap on the floor. "Are you shitting me?" he questions the Boy Wonder. "I didn't even--she just--look at her!" He stumbles over his words, taking step towards the wall--and away from Raven--when Robin moves towards him in a very deliberate, very dangerous manner more serious and intimidating Red X has seen from him yet. "She's a mess, Wonder Boy. What happened to her?"

"That's none of your damn business," Robin snaps, breaking off glaring at him to wrinkle his brow worriedly at his friend. "Raven, are you all right? Did he--" Robin swallows, shoots an even uglier glare at X, grits his teeth and starts again. "--did he touch you?"

On the floor, Raven takes a deep, shuddering breath, and while Red X watches, mouth agape, seems to force her spine to straighten and her legs to come properly under her. "No," her voice is shaky and hoarse, the sort of rough sound of someone who's been crying for days--or is trying not to. "I was just... caught off guard."

"What the hell..." red X mutters. He whirls towards Robin, suddenly needing to know, to put the pieces of this very strange, very out of character puzzle the two birds are presenting together. "I've been hearing some things. Things about her. Is it true, Boy Blunder?"

Robin moves faster than even Red X had known he could, proving that even after all this time, he'd still been holding out on him. Before the words are even stale on his breath, Red X is slammed against the wall behind him, Robin's forearm like a steel bar pressed across his clavicle, a short movement from crushing the air from his throat. "What have you heard? From who?"

Red X finds that the out-of-character aspect of this puzzle seems to be catching, because he doesn't feel even the tiniest urge to jerk the two Titans around right now, not even to try and bait Robin into losing his temper. He answers, quick and straightforward. "Been hearing some rumors that a certain something" he chooses his word carefully "unsavory happened to Sunshine. And from the usual type, seedy assholes and associates. And before you start an interrogation, no, nobody's had any details to share that I've heard. Just the whisper that it happened."

Robin seems to search his masked face for honesty for several moments, then, slowly, with a tight, grasping-at-control-by-a-thread inhalation, he drops his arms to his side and takes a step back.

Raven is standing now, holding her cloak tightly to hide herself, as if she wises she could disappear into it, though she seems to be determined to watch the interplay between the two men, hero and thief, a lighter and a darker shade of gray. She makes no attempt to join the conversation, not even to object being spoken about as if she weren't present.

Red X looks at her, ignoring Robin's muted glare, staggered by this completely unexpected, utterly horrible news. "Jesus,' he repeats he under his breath. Then, a long sigh crackling like static through the voice distorter, he reaches to his belt and tosses a small, square gray case at Robin's feet. "This is what I stole. You can keep it. The whole night's fucked, I don't even want it now."

As if on cue, there is a swelling hum and the lights come on with a flicker, and Robin's communicator starts trilling insistently.

X watches Raven flinch from both the lights and the noise, then try to cover it with a stiff spine and clenched jaw. Turning his body toward her, he catches her eye. "For what little it might be worth, I'm sorry. But I get the feeling somebody is gonna find that motherfucker, and one way or another, he'll probably die nasty. When that happens, I hope it helps you." He looks over at Robin, who still looks very much like he'd like to beat the shit out of someone. "Let's not do this again sometime soon. See you around."

And then he vanishes.

End Scene

Hmmm..... I really don't think the rough came out at all like I wanted it to... but the gist of the idea is more or less right.

Anybody got any opinions? I think I'll save Scene 2 for another time. I'm tired.

Night all.

So, lovies (please ignore the title, I don't really have a clue) I thought I might let you dears peek at something few so far have been privileged to see. It's an idea that never got off the ground for a Teen Titans fic. It's all rather super rough, because the only format it exists in is the AIM conversation transcript it was originally formulated in.

You know what, actually, lemme give you two, because I love you guys. They're both Red X/Raven centered (seems a trend lately, doesn't it? I've also been doing Speedy/Raven lately, but that's another matter. Looks like I've been neglecting poor Robin, except... well, no, not really.) Pardon the crappiness, I'mgoing to copypaste directly from the IM transcripts, with possibly some last-minute polishing here or there. But it's not exactly a full-fleshed story. Either way, I hope you enjoy them.

This is going to be a long-ass entry. you are now forewarned.

The first one I on-the-spot titled "Borrowing Trouble":

Red X has become, at this point, an "honorary Titan". He has a communicator he can choose to use, and even sometimes does, and he has helped out on several occasions by now, sometimes offering information or advice, or merely backup, or lending his skills or expertise. He assures the Titans he has decided to turn from his wicked ways ("I've kind of given up the 'thief' thing... it got boring. I am now a legitimate 'recovery artist'. People pay me to find lost or stolen things, and to get them back by as legal means as possible. What? It's almost always legal. Come on, don't be such a killjoy.") and so they no longer chase him, and due to various acts of public heroism (helping save the world a couple times at great personal risk--to his chagrin) all formal charges against him have been dropped (secretly on the condition that he continues in this community and public service when the Titans require it of him).

And so the titans have become accustomed to working with him every so often. He even occasionally drops in. (Scared the piss--rather literally--out of BB one night when he got up for a glass of water in the middle of the night, turned on the light, and found X lounging on the kitchen counter with his mask pushed up over his mouth, eating a PB&J sandwich. BB yelped, became a puppy, and promptly piddled on the floor. X woke up the whole Tower with his guffaws.) He even showed up once for an All Titans Barbecue. ("You know how Southern people go to family reunions to meet women? Yeah, this is kind of like that.")

And now that you have the backstory important bits, I can get to the main idea.

There's some big bad guy thing getting ready to go down. Not masked villains, something different than that. Something actually a little darker, a thing the JLU would normally take care of, or fob off to government authorities, but Robin was the one who found out about it. He doesn't have enough evidence to to turn it over to state, and he's a little sore at the JLU right now (who recently told Batman he should do something about his old sidekick and his little friends--their playtime is over and they're making too much of a fuss. There's no room for a JLU AND a league of young ex-sidekicks and wet-behind-the-ears new supers. Batman shared this with him in an unusually amused mood, but Robin was understandably pissed. After all, they're not really children anymore, and haven't they already saved the world enough times to be taken seriously yet?) So Robin's not talkng to the Good Old Boys Club on this one.

So Robin decides they need to infiltrate this event, get inside information, do what they can from within the machine. Get evidence, stop whoever neccessary, so on and so forth. He tells the others this may be a deep cover project. Therefore, sadly, he is eliminated from being one of the inside guys. He's too recognizable even without the mask, what with Dick Grayson, ward of Bruce Wayne and playboy in training, occasionally getting splashed on the cover of People and Us Weekly these days, and he can't compromise either identity. Starfire--well, let's just say Britney Spears is a better actress. Cyborg, um, is a large metal man... not exactly inconspicuous or versatile. And the Stone persona is unfortunately known as his alter ego by the criminal element, what with that old HIVE fiasco. BB? He's kind of... green... and ADD...

That leaves Raven. She can dye her hair, proves a surprisingly accomplished actress ("Do any of you even know the definition of the word empath? Cues? Tells? Lie detection? Any of this ringing a bell in any heads?") and it would be simple enough to remove the chakra stone and fake her an identity. But Robin isn't exactly comfortable with the thought of sending her under alone. It's asking for trouble, he thinks. And so an idea strikes him. They need someone to go in with her, someone who knows the criminal underworld very well, someone whose face won't be traced back to anyone in spandex or tights. And don't they know just the perfect ex-criminal for the job? (Raven, however, points out to Cyborg in an aside "I thought we weren't asking for trouble. Now we're hiring it?")

So they call in Red X. Robin explains to him, alone, about the situation, and what they need to do. X seems poised to say no, when Robin reminds him, rather archly, he still has a debt to pay to society, and would he rather do so behind bars, or under cover? X is annoyed, not exactly enthusiastic, but agrees at length. "Hell, fine, why the fuck not. It'll be like old times, and maybe I'll get to crack a few heads along the way."

Robin smiles, all too smug and triumphant, and says "Great. Now, you and Raven will be leaving--"

"Hold on, hold on, hold the fucking phone, Bird Blunder. Me and whatthewhositnow?"

Raven walks into the room, clearly having been eavsedropping for some time "Deal with it, or you'll be the one with a cracked head. I'm not looking forward to this either."

There are violent protests (Red X: "I work best alone." Robin: "Well, you'll work even better with her." Raven: "Robin, I think you might be expecting a bit much from me. I'm not a miracle worker."), persuasions (Red X: "Oh, come on, can't I just... I don't know... buy you flowers and we'll call it even?" Raven: "I'm afraid Robin doesn't ride that side of the fence, and even if he did, flowers? Really, couldn't you at least manage pearls?" Robin, sighing and rubbing his temples: "All right, now you two are just getting way off point. Can we please stay on topic?"), threats (Red X: "Fine! But it isn't my fault if she gets into trouble. I'm not taking responsibility for any drunken fool who tries to grope her, got it?" Raven: "Including you?" Robin, throwing hs hands in the air: "Okay, maybe this was a bad idea after all..."), but finally, X surrenders.

He and Raven, it is decided, will be prepped for cover in the morning and leave for the site directly after, via the tunnels under the bay, so as to be unseen. From there, they will need to find their own transport, unconnected to either of their true identities, in the city to get where their going. Robin's only connections will be the two of them, so they'll have to get in on their own merit.

From there, it'll be something of a comedy of errors mixed with sort of a Mr and Mrs Smith vibe, with action and sexual tension and near-romance galore.

Hope you liked that. For this next one, it is absolutely essential to have listened to the song Blood (Chocolate version) by Sparklemotion, or even listen to it while reading, as it was the inspiration and the repeat-song for writing, and utterly sets the mood. If you can't or don't want to actually hunt the song to listen to, the lyrics are as follows:

You clean up so nice
A gentle face I couldn't recognize
The blood in your eyes
I knew that someone had to pay a price

A shelter a safe place
I couldn't find a way to escape
The blood on your face
I wish that there could be another way

A shelter a safe place
I couldn't find a way to escape
The blood on your face
I couldn't have it any other way

Is this what it seems?
Am I make believe?
Watchignt hrough your eyes
I'm running out of time

You kiss and make nice
A gentle face with a big surprise
The blood in your eyes
I knew that I was going to pay the price

the shelter isn't safe
I couldn't find a way to escape
The blood on your face
You couldn't have it any other way

Is this what it seems?
Am I make believe?
Watching through your eyes
I'm running out of time

And now, for a super-sexy treat I called oh-so-cleverly "Resisting Temptation":

Raven's attending some sort of formal event, a gala ball or gallery opening, something appropriately snooty and fancy. She has come as a representative of the Titans West at the invitation of the Governor (she lost at rock-paper-scissors), and Aqualad is her escort of convenience, seeing as the event requires all attendees to come with a companion, and he has been invited as the Titans East representative (despite residing in a city across the country, the Titans East recently lent a hand in some events in CA that got media coverage, and thus the Governor felt obliged to extend the nonlocal heroes this courtesy as well.) Aqualad and Raven, however, are not glued at the hip for this event, and Aqualad has found himself rather popular as a dance partner all evening, leaving Raven, rather relieved, to her own devices. She's not quite ever gotten over being embarassed over her brief infatuation with him in their youth.

It's bad enough Raven has been forced to be at this event she has no interest in, surrounded by people she couldn't much care less about. And in a dress, no less. Sure, it's a gorgeous satin Little Black number, and she looks quite stunning, even beautifully mysterious if not a little sullen and detached, but she always feels particularly self conscious in skirts and strappy heels.

She is standing alone, hanging at the edge of the crowd, perhaps near a window, or a balcony, something... she stand mostly unnoticed, unapproached. no one, either way, is really paying her much attention. The band is not playing, and people are mingling, talking, flirting. Raven is staring off into space, her eyes hooded, seeing the world framed by her lashes. Out of the corner of her field of vision, she notices something.

That movement--there, that is the one that caught her eye. Preadtory... like a hunting cat, stealthy, stalking through the herd... She turns her head with casual laziness, her eyes coming more alert and her expression a little pensive as she tries to pinpoint the maker of the move. There are several men and women of various--but near enough--ages, chatting, but--there, is that the one?--one man stands with his back to the others, and the woman he is talking to--no, the girl, she is young, maybe younger than Raven--blushes prettily at his charming words and smooth smile.

The petite brunette is a young thing indeed, her expression naive and mooning, like a calf as it is led to the slaughter. Her pretty blues eyes don't see (Raven has decided to call him the Wolf in her head) the Wolf's teeth under his smile. She is an elegant, waifish thing, and someone else has probably dressed her, the low cut of her silk dress framing pert little breasts that cradle a magnificent sapphire.

The young girl doesn't even notice, it seems, when the Wolf--who, yes, does move like a cat--takes her gently by the elbow and begins to steer her in the direction of a little half-hidden alcove created by curtains and corners. Raven can feel the frown on her own mouth, and decides to interfere after she moves to do so.

She glides through the crowd of glitterati like a phantom, her path unimpeded, no matter where she steps, and no one noticing their quick sidesteps to avoid her. She doesn't want anyone looking if this becomes a scene.

She steps carefully and smoothly around the young man, who has nearly backed the girl into his killing ground, and ignores him utterly, turning her face with a small smile on her lips to the girl, and the motion immediately pulls the girl's attention from the predator to the protector. "Sorry to interrupt," she murmurs to the surprised, cheerful girl--she's much like Starfire, really, but younger still, and she knows less, and is not as strong--"but I believe that young man over there was looking for you." She gestures vaguely back in the direction from which they came, towards that little flock, where she could be hidden and made safe by numbers. The girl looks startled, as if she hadn't realized she'd left her own sphere behind. Smiling a polite thanks to Raven, she beams a blushing, winning pardon to the wolf-toothed man and rushes gracefully away.

Raven watches her cut her path back to her bubble of safety before at last turning to meet those inscrubtale cat eyes. They have been watching her, she knows, since she began her interference, and the smile is expected, though the odd shadow in his eyes is not.

Her own smile has vanished as if it never was, and she refrains through an effort of will from placing her hands on cocked hips defensively. "What are you doing here?" Her voice is sharp, with a bite like a viper's. She will not leave him anything to charm, nor give him room to manuever her to his machinations.

His smile only widens, becoming the wolf grin in truth, all tooth and threat and promise. "I could ask the same of you. I'm not sure which is the bigger surprise; you recognizing me, or me recognizing you." It is now that she realizes it really is him, and notices almost for the first time that she is seeing a face of flesh, not a skull, though the grinning teeth are still there.

It is a pleasant face, but surprising. High cheekbones and a jaw that is not so square as to be blockish, with a straight nose that rounds just so at the tip, over a mouth that is soft and somehow sensual without being either feminine or pouty. His features lend him an almost gentle look that is spoiled only by that knife-like grin and that odd shadow in those big, glitteringly bottle-green eyes. "I've never met anyone else with such greed and lust as yours. It was a fairly safe bet."

He moves forward in a sudden, svelte flash, so quickly she moves on automatic to avoid him, and she realizes the moment cloth brushes the bare skin of her shoulder that he has backed her into his place of choice, and that they are hidden from the world by curtains and shadows now. "And I've never met anyone else who was quite as charmingly aggravating as you. But what a piece of irony; here I am without my mask, and for the first time, you're wearing one."

She frowns and refrains from reaching up to touch the unaccustomed molded scrap of black satin that covers her from cheekbone to brow. "It is a masquerade, after all." She retorts coolly, arching her brows and flicking a short, assesing glance over his smartly tailored black suit and bare face. "Or didn't you know?"

His smile this time is slow and sure, and she wonders what he thinks he has won. "I lost mine somewhere. Probably somehwere between one girl and the next." Her scowl is immediate and fierce, and there is a quiet snap as the cord that held back the velvet curtain tugs autonomously free from the wall, letting the heavy drapery further obscure predator and prey--but who is who?--from casual eyes.

"How much have you taken here tonight, X? How many girls have you charmed out of their mother's borrowed jewels or birthday gifts?" She advances a half sidestep, making him circle warily on one foot the other way, so that neither now has their back to the wall, but they face each other with one shoulder each towards escape.

His head tilts back as he lets loose an almost surprised, slightly mocking laugh, and she is tempted to find something with which to slit that exposed line of smooth, pale throat. "Jewels? Silly bird, you think I'm here lifting bracelets and charms off spoiled debutantes? I'm no petty cat burglar, Sunshine." His grin is a confident white gleam in the dim they occupy, and she can see their faint light glinting off his glass-green eyes, reflecting the amusement there. "Tonight's no business venture. This is purely about my own pleasure, I promise you."

She narrows her eyes at him in growing suspicion, her instincts piping up some strange warning she isn't sure she should heed. "I'm expected to believe you're here as a harmless reveler? Right," she dralws dryly. "To all my knowledge, your business is your pleasure."

His smile folds into a smirk. "You don't know everything in the world, Sunshine. I could tell you all kinds of things that would surprise you, and only half of them would be lies." He leans forward suddenly, though the move looks casual and almost lazy from her vantage, and he places his hand on the wall to the right of her. "You're too caught up in your role, night bird. I'm not always a thief, and you're not always a hero." The smirk widens a little, and he leans forward further, forcing her to draw her head back to keep his face in focus, as there is nowhere to step back to that doesn't put her back against the wall. "Sometimes pleasure is pleasure, and lust is just lust. Is it all that hard to believe all I want to charm the girls here out of is there little black dresses?" He mocks her a little by imitating her drawl, and she curses both the blush that rises to her cheeks and the satisfaction it puts in his eyes.

Her chin lifts in a show of superiority and scorn. "Yes, it is. You're a criminal and a thief, and if getting you something shiny or sparkly also gets you a little gratification, that's only secondary." She allows a smirk to match his to curve on her own mouth. "You're caught, Red X. Just like always."

He grins again, his chuckle hinting at gales of laughter held at bay. "You really should spend less time with Boy Blunder. Just because he's nothing more than his costume doesn't mean the same of everyone." her mouth has opened to defend Robin, but he continues over her, making her mouth close with a sharp click of teeth. "And just like always, hmm? Not really. After all," he drawls, taking a step closer so that she can feel the heat from his body through her thin dress, "this is the first time you've worn a dress for a fight, the first time you've worn the mask and I haven't, and the first time anyone's ever called me a criminal for trying to steal a kiss. And besides," His other hand rises to place his palm against the wall to the other side of her head, and she finds herself caged. "You're the one who's caught."

Raven's heart picks up a belatedly fast rhythm as she realizes she is caught, in a trap half her own making. Well, she hadn't meant herself to be a decoy to allow the unwitting girl to escape, but if Red X was preoccupied with Raven, he at least wasn't harrassing anyone else. And she at least knew his tricks, and could defend against him. Sneering a little, she scoffs, then smooths her mouth into a confident, almost smug grin. "I'm the one caught, am I? Don't flatter yourself. And do you really think I came here alone? You might stand a chance against me alone, but two Titans?" she cants her head a bit to one side, as if pitying him. "Maybe you've let the champagne go to your head?"

His laugh is almost a breath against her face, prickling over her skin. "Two Titans? I handle the original five of you well enough all the time. And if you think I'll be thrown by that wet-behind-the-ears fishboy you brought as your date, you don't pay much attention. Your little Atlantean is being quite entertained by some girls on his own. Or entertaining them, maybe. He's got a smile a little like mine, sometimes." His feet and arms don't move, but somehow he is suddenly closer, his chest threatening to touch her with a deep breath, and his lips tickle her earlobe as he whispes. "The devil you know, right? Think of this as if I've saved you, since this seems to be a night for role reversals." He pulls back enough to note her puzzled--and pinked--face, and smiles that smug, knowing grin again. "I propose a game."

She smirks, back on familiar ground. She is no stranger to games and challenges, living with the Batman's protege. "Propose away. The fact of the matter is that I have the advantage, unless you want to risk exposure, so I will win. But if it entertains you to try stalling the inevitable, then by all means." She makes a gracious gesture with her hand in the shrinking space between them, saying dryly, "I have all night, after all."

He does not laugh this time, and his smile takes on a new edge, bringing that shadow back into the green of his eyes, darkening them from bottle-glass to emerald. "The game is simple, Sunshine, but don't be so sure of your victory yet. The playing field is mine, and I'm a much more experienced player than you, believe me." She merely gives him a bored expression, and his grin widens at the catty response. "Your goal..." his head dips closer to hers in a single swift motion, making her jerk her head backward in surprise. She can no longer focus on his eyes, and drops her gaze to the nearest feature she can see without going cross-eyed: his mouth. "Resist me."

"No problem," she replies surely, though her vice seems oddly... breathy. She watches his lips curl with a mounting sense of dread and an undermining thread of excitement--whatever happens here, she knows, will not be something she will forget. "And your goal? Games have two players, and you make it too easy if my only aim is defense."

"Oh, trust me, I won't be making this easy for you. And my goal is your surrender. You can only beat me by resisting me, or making me surrender. Your best shot is resistance, but they're still long odds, Sunshine. You could make it easy on yourself and give in now." He allows one hand to leave the wall, placing it on her waist and leaving only the right arm between her and the curtained escape into the glittering illusion of safety the world outside their challenge offered. "This is your one easy out. Take it or leave it."

The bottom starts to drop out of her stomach, and she suddenly thinks to wonder just what she's gambling or surrendering here. And while part of her already knows, she has spent years mastering self-deceit. "Are you all talk after all?" She manages a dry drawl. "Just try me."

She more feels than sees his smirk. "Since you insist. Just remember... the aim is to not surrender, to resist me. Not to fight back." And then his lips are brushing over her own, soft, tentative, gentle almost. The thrill in her stomach is as much exictement as shock, and she goes very still when the tip of his tongue ghosts wetly over her bottom lip, tracing the curve of it, seeking entrance and finding none. She gasps at the vibration of his chuckle against her lips, through her chest--when did he get to be so very, very close? "Not too easy, then. Good." And his mouth crushes over hers, and the challenge truly begins.

:D And that's all there is--there isn't anymore!

I hope you liked what you read, lovies. Please give me feedback?

Also, I'm considering sneek-peek previewing you guys with what I have for one of the current brainchild projects I've had largely under wraps; it's a crossover with Teen Titans and Batman Beyond, largely starring Raven throw forward into the Batman Beyond timeframe. If you guys're following my Unfinished Business collection on fanfic,net, the entry titled "A Cold and Broken Hallelujah" is a preview of events occuring partway into this story.

So whaddaya say? Y'all interested?

Abbie

Weeeelll I know it's been an age, but I honestly never remember this journal. I know, bad Abbie, no biscuit.

It's mostly SylverEyes's fault I've remembered it now at all, since she consistently bugs/reminds me in her kindly reviews. ;) Thanks for lookin out, dear.

But I do think this is definitely the place to come to do sneak previews and test runs. I'm only dropping the teaser format of how I ran this idea by Emania via email, but let me know whatcha think, guys? I'd be much obliged.


So... this is an unusual idea. It's not romance. Not overtly, anyways. if there will be pairings in this, I have no idea what they might end up being. This is an action/adventure/mystery TT fic.

It came to me at work, as these things often do. Just the idea of Raven, huddled in a small dark space, her clothing tattered and torn in places, she's maybe not entirely clean. The room is very dark, and very small. It's possible there's a sensory deprivation reason behind this. There are cuffs on Raven's wrists. they're not chained or linked together, but they are heavy, dull metal, about a half-inch thick and an inch wide, almost like ugly bracelets. they don't look like much, lacking any designs or marks whatsoever--including, apparently, a clasp or other means of removal--but they keep Raven's powers contained while she wears them.

Suddenly, the door--which she faces--opens, and a rectangle of bright light falls into the 12x12 space she occupies the center of. A figure moves into the middle of the doorway, casting a shadow over Raven's small form, where she sits with her knees pulled up, arms crossed around them and forehead against her knees. Now, she raises her head. Her expression is not quite the calm, smooth, blank mask of disaffected youth she so often shows, for there is a little hardness in her jaw, a flatness to her mouth, and she couldn't be said to be anything but glaring.

The figure in the door is hidden by their own shadow, until they move a step to the side, fold their arms across their chest laconically, and lean against the doorframe. Then, the light falls on the skull mask and ragged cape, and he is known.

Raven's lips part and her brows raise, then furrow in confusion. Her voice is a disused--or overly abused--croak. "What are you doing here?"

His reply is wry, amused. "Not who you expected, Sunshine? I can go get Big Blue if you want, or maybe the Bat if I'm not to your taste." He waits, but she says nothing, too wary and confused. He chuckles at her expense, then straightens from the jamb and jerks a thumb over his shoulder. "Hop to it, sweetheart, time's a wasting."

Raven eases a foot underneath her, braces her hands on the floor, readying--but unsure for what. There is a little incredulity in her voice and face now. "You're working for them now?"

"Please," he scoffs. "Even if I decided to go straight, I would never go that narrow."

"What are you doing here?" She asks again more sharply, her leg muscles bunching and fists clenching. She is suspicious and confused, and that is a dangerous state when she has been so recently badly used.

His own tone takes on a note of impatience and exasperation. "Busting your ass out of here, or trying to anyways. It wasn't exactly easy to get in here, you know, and it's really not going to take the guys in charge long to figure out something's up. So if you would kindly get off your ass, we could proceed to the exit strategy?"

She takes to her feet now, moves one solid step in his direction--but stops, just as he begins to turn. Her voice rings out, the hardness in it making it clear she won't be going anywhere without an answer to this question. "Why?"

He looks over his shoulder, and the movement of his head suggests he rolls his eyes. "Because not everyone is buying that you're guilty. Some people happen to think you've been set up nice and tidy, and I've been contracted to get your ass on the run before they decide to really lock you up and throw away the key." He makes a hurrying motion with his hand. "Good enough?" After a moment, she nods reluctantly. "Then move your ass, we are running out of time."

Before he has finished pronouncing "time", a whooping alarm begins blaring through the hallway, and red and blue lights strobe obnoxiously near the ceiling. Raven lurches out of the cell, joining Red X in the long, blank, blandly carpeted cinderblock hallway. She takes a step to the left, remembering which direction she had been dragged in from, but his hand snatches her by the shoulder, whirling her around.

"We're not going out that way."

Raven puffs an impatient breath. "Then how--"

"Same way I came in, doll," he chuckles, and pulls her roughly against his side, tucking his arm around her waist. "But we gotta go now, before they get that scramble-shielding-whatsit shit back up. I was only promised a ten minute window, and you used most of that up with your questions."

Trying not to react to his rough handling--she's had much worse very recently--she watches him reach down and press a series of tiny buttons set around the X on his belt. "You can't be serious."

Rather brightly, he responds, "I sure am. Better brace yourself--I've never done this with with somebody else along for the ride before." And without further delay, he presses the X, and Raven feels her edges fray and dissolve, her stomach lurch sickeningly--and then the hallway is empty, and they are gone.


Whatcha think? Interested? Wanna know more? Wish to see this become a real live fanfic type story? Please do tell.

I was considering... you know, I already posted it in Unfinished Business, where my stories generally go to die...

But I dunno. I read a fanfic set similarly in traditional fantasy setting that i greatly enjoyed, recently, and i'm considering resurrecting Fable.

If you're wondering what the hell that is, it's this story I started that was AU for Teen Titans set as a traditional fantasy in the usual way, with horses and mages and little towns and lords and swords and things. Raven was a librarian, or so she let people think, had a crush on local aristocrat Rorek (who has an evil cousin who never got introduced), and was good friends with a number of mysterious characters, all of whom but Victor Stone and Richard Grayson got to make an appearance.

Well, I always had the vaguest of plans for that story, and they've begun niggling and shaping once more...

But, egads, I already have so many stories needing writing on.

I think most of my fanbase is for Awkward Entanglements, and people might just destroy me if I don't keep writing that one and update it this century, even though it keeps trying to slip from my grasp like an eel.

And I'm really quite invested in Under the Skin. I know a great deal of what happens and how things go, I'm just having touble, for some reason, of all things, beginning the next chapter. I know how I want to begin it, I just can't seem to set it to type.

Sigh.

Should I bother, then, on bringing something like Fable back to life? Especially since Fable promises to be horrifically long and epic. Dear god, I am a useless sort or writer.

Maybe i ought to just pack that dream in and see about resigning to hanging my shingle as an editor. I seem to be better at that, even if it isn't my great love. But maybe I should be realistic, here.

Bah, maunderings. But yeah, Fable. Should I?

Somewhere on deviantART exists a picture of Robin, Starfire, and Raven, seated and viewed from behind, with Star leaning on Robin's shoulder and Raven seated a slight distance to her right, and behind her Robin and Raven are holding hands. I cannot for the life of me find the damn thing. Could've sworn it was in my favorites, but apparently not, and I really wanna write a drabble based on it. Poo. Anybody know?

Oh my god, I can't believe I got suckered into this shit. This is Em's fault. 100%. Completely. Dammit.

I'm InAbsentia on deviantArt.com and Absentia at fanfiction.net. I don't know just how much I'll be around here, or how often I'll update it. I promise nothing. I mostly play at dA, as it's easier to keep track of most folk there. Um... I have really nothing else to say. It's 4:30 in the morning, and I have shit to do tomorrow. My ass should be in bed.

In fact, I think I'll do that. Night, all.