Raven's choice

“Look I really don’t care honestly.” Cole said the pair walked. Causing Raven to shoot him a quick glare.

“You don’t? Then why did you want to…” Raven started before Cole held up his hands weakly in a form of defense.

“Look I’m not spending that length of time locked in a building. I’d go jogging if I had to, just figured it’d be better if we went out together.” Cole answered, "This way we can keep an eye out for each other. Make sure nothing happens. Besides as I said, it'd be kinda weird for a new moved in couple to just lock themselves away." He gave a small chuckle, "I'm not expecting to make friends but we should at least look sociable don't you think?"

Raven gave a quick sigh as she was about to really dig into him about this whole outting idea when a low grumble was heard. Cole rubbed his stomach a little with a big grin. Raven rolled her eyes only for her own stomach to answer with it's own muttering. She huffed as she turned to look where she was going. The pair had gotten to a crosswalk going across the street and were simply waiting for the light to let them go.

“I guess we're a bit hungry after that training. You’re the one that knows this place better than me. Know of any good places to get a fast bite?” Cole asked as he came up along side her.

"He’s doing it again." Raven thought to herself, "He’s putting the weight on me over this little trip. However, this also means I’m in charge of the pace. He probably doesn’t want to come off as forward or pushy."

The hero combed her memory of the book from last night. What sort of food nearby would be good..., and what sort of other benefit could she get out of it?

“I think I have an idea.” Raven said as she turned toward him.

Cole wasn't sure what to make of that small smile on her lips though.

"Why do let you do this?" Cole asked, his voice sounding annoyed and tired.

The two were in large park, with numerous walkways, monuments, bridges with tunneled pathways under the raised structures. A few people were scattered about due to the rain but it was largely empty. Just Cole, Raven, and the carved markers and plaques. Cole didn't feel right walking around the place, almost like he didn't deserve to be here. Raven however just seemed to glide around the pathways without an issue.

“You gave me permission.” Raven stated as she started to look around, her head slowly turning from one side to the other.

Walking around with Raven was a tad off putting, more so than it had been just being in the house with her. She kept herself closed off during the walk, usually standing off to the side when they stopped to take in a few monuments or read a plaques. Cole didn't really understand the words or terms written on them. It seemed to be a place to remember some long ago battle or tragedy. A lot of people had died in this city at one point, and thus this place was erected to remember it.

The place felt weird though, that strange feeling unable to leave him. Maybe it was the rain that was making his skin crawl a bit. It wouldn't explain the smell though one that cut through the wetness. It was a weird one too, almost acidic and iron like but maybe the water around him mixed in with a strange wetness. It was just a rankish order of cleaning supplies, rot, and something else. Maybe that's why his skin was somewhat revolting at being here.

“Blech..., hey Raven, I know I said we could go where you wanted but think we could...” Cole started as he turned away from the plaque he was reading.

The boxer was cut off when Raven moved close to his side, hooked an arm around his, and dragged him off. The hero pulled him under a bridge pathway, hidden away from sight and pinned him to the wall. Cole’s mind just completely blanked out throughout the whole thing. Not even Penny had man handled him like this and well… this was kinda unbecoming of Raven considering what he knew of her. Whatever that smell that was effecting him, had been replaced by the lingering scent of lavender and... was that strawberry?

His eyes widened as Raven’s face came closer to his own.

The old guard craned his neck to look over the area he was assigned. He was sure he saw a pair of people walking around. The older man scratched the side of his head wondering where they got to. Orders came down to get people out of the park due to the rain, which was a tad weird. It was a light rain and none of the streams were backed up. Eh, he wasn’t paid to think about it and wasn't going to kick up a fuss. Just get people out of there and let someone smarter deal with it.

A muffled sound came from a nearby bridge tunnel. Bingo, they probably took shelter there. The old man made his way towards and slowly saw the figure of the woman come into view. She was really pressed up against someone and… oh…, well that was...

“OH MY GOD I’m.. I’m sorry!” The woman explained when she saw the guard out of the corner of her eye. She sounded extremely shocked and was looking at the guard with wide eyes, “I thought this place wasn't going to…, we were just kissing a little… nothing serious.” she had a light blush on her face.

“COUGH, it’s alright m’am hehehhe, I remember when I was young." the guard said, bowing his head a bit in embarrassment, "Look so long as you aren’t doing anything… more, I’ll leave yah alone. But Park is closing soon so yah better get moving.” he gave a weak thumbing motion towards the park entrance.

“We will just… could we get a bit more time alone?” The woman asked. She shuffled in place while giving her partner a few looks.

The guard checked his watch and sighed. Young people and their hormones. “Look lass I remember being young but I was only foolhardy not stupid. Listen I’m gonna go finish my route and if you aren’t gone by the time I get back, then you’re in trouble. K?” he called. He was such a sucker for young love, and here of all places.

“We’ll be gone by then.” The woman answered back, with a slight bow. A hard motion to pull off while still semi pressed up against her partner.

“Alright then. Don't make me regret this though.” The guard said with a wag of his finger as he turned away.

Pulling up his coat a bit more and making sure his cap was down tight around his head, he continued to walk. Rain wasn’t hard but dang if it wasn’t chilly. He could see why the pair had hidden way for a little steamy make out. His memory turned to how he and his wife had done the same years ago as he went about the rest of his patrol.

“He’s gone. Good.”

Raven did have her body pushed up against Cole’s but not for the reason the guard thought, or probably Cole. Rather than a kiss, Raven’s hand had covered his mouth, causing him to only be able to make muffled noises. He was a bit mad about it but trusted Raven enough to see where this was going. When he heard the guard’s voice, he had an answer, at least partway. He just let Raven take charge of the whole thing, not sure how to help out. Besides, her being this close was blocking out that weird smell anyway, so it was a plus.

Wait was that a bit creepy? He pushed that thought from his mind as he heard the guard walk away.

“Could have… blagh, warned me.” Cole muttered as Raven lowered her hand from his face. However, Raven hadn't backed up yet.

“Someone had been following us for a bit. I couldn’t be sure as to who or why. Now… flip me.” Raven commanded.

“…wat?” The way Raven had said it and how forceful she'd been had thrown Cole for a loop, "What are you..."

“Flip me.” Raven repeated as her hands gripped onto Cole's body.

There was a shuffle of movement and soon Cole had Raven pinned to the wall in a tight grip that anyone would guess was a lover’s embrace. At least to anyone from a distance anyway. In truth, Raven was more focused on the small ball of black energy forming between her hands. Cole’s body acted as cover, making it hard through the darkness and rain to see what was actually happening.

"Aight, I’ll bite. What are you doing?" Cole huffed.

He wasn't fully complaining about the fact Raven stayed this close but he wanted to be in the loop of things. Getting jerked around without knowing a damn thing was getting pretty annoying.

"This park isn’t just a park. It’s a massive ley line point." Raven explained when she got a chance to answer.

She threw in a bit more juice into the sphere, until it was about the size of a baseball, white lines starting to form across the surface. It started to spark and hiss, making Cole press in further to try and block the sight.

"Wait really?" Cole asked. He knew the term, ley lines were some sort of land or area that had power to them but that was about all he knew about them. "I guess you found this out with some of your scans."

"Yes. It's the real reason I wanted to come here. Granted, I wasn't expecting this to be here. The book seemed to mention it was a park not like... this." Raven explained as she kept focus on her building magic. "I’m trying to tap into it, see if I can’t use it as a reservoir for my own power."

"Is that a good thing to do? I mean that’s a lot of magic I think and maybe someone would notice." Cole offered. Raven just blew some hair out of her face and gave him one of her 'looks'.

"Of course someone’s going to notice but it’s a massive ley line in the middle of the city. Any mage within fifty miles could tap into this. I just want to see if I use this to fuel my own, or trap part of it for later. It would give us more options if I can." Raven explained, like she was lecturing a student. Her voice firm but stern in talking to him.

"Hey listen you can't...," Cole's voice hardened as he talked before getting a slight bump from Raven caused him to stop.

"Just let me focus for a bit…, it won't be too much longer." Raven quipped before turning her attention back to her spell.

Cole snapped his mouth close with a growl as he looked around, trying to keep an eye out. Dragged to a place that just made his skin crawled, kept out of the loop, and just jerked around some more; his grip around Raven started to tighten as his teeth ground against each other. Eventually Raven seemed to finish her spell. The dark sphere had picked up a glowing runic symbol on it, along with a smaller bird inside of that. Raven nodded and seemed to ‘pocket’ the orb.

It was honestly just hard to tell considering it vanished the moment it left what dim lighting there was.

"So yah done?" Cole grumbled as he glared at her.

"Yes." Raven lightly pushed him away. When it didn't work, she gave him another glare and Cole slowly let the grip fall. "I’m linked to the ley line now and can draw on it. Only in small amounts and I can cut the connection at any time." Raven said as she put a step of distance between them.

"Okay but why do you need it?" Cole growled as he crossed his arms.

"In order to refill my own energy." Raven said. When she saw Cole wasn't backing down she brought up a hand and extended her pointer. Like one would for a lecture. "Picture a pool being filled by a hose. That is my reservoir. Now picture another hose joining that first one, maybe a little wider and this gives more water. That’s what I’ve just set up. Currently it's not in use, but it's there if I need it."

"However, if you want a more goal based view on why I did this; I want to see if I can jumpstart the Teleport device. While it's currently charging, if we can feed in energy, magic or otherwise, perhaps we can shorten the time it will take till the jump." Raven finished as she leaned against the wall.

That all made a lick of sense. Cole just felt annoyed that he was left in the dark about it. Along with the fact that Raven seemed to be enjoying leaving him spinning. He recalled her doing that to Beastboy often, and it was funny to see, but usually the two patched up things afterward. This level of teasing was a bit new to him though. Perhaps best to call her on it.

"Are you okay? I don't recall you being this…, is mischievous the right word?" Cole started, lowing his arms, "Yeah you'd mess with BB but that was more give and take."

"I’m fine. Your concern is appreciated if outdated." Raven paused and brought a finger to her chin in thought, "How much do you recall about my emotions anyway?" the hero asked.

"Err hmm not much." Cole answered back, "Only that your emotions are tied to power and you could lose control. That and the little bit you brought up about your powers before."

“A topic for dinner or breakfast." Cole took a step foward, all but done with getting jerked around but Raven just held up a finger, "Later. Alone. Some of this is far more detailed than I feel comfortable talking out in public. I promise you, we'll talk when we have time alone."

"That said are you doing okay yourself? You seem bothered and grouchy. I realize that my actions haven’t been…," Raven started but Cole stopped her this time with a raised up hand.

"I won’t lie, don’t like getting jerked around but it’s something else bothering me. Skin feels weird, kinda itchy or like something moving under the skin. Just slightly. And this weird smell in the air too." Cole explained as he moved to lean against the wall opposite of her.

"Smell?" Raven asked, her eyes widening just a bit and her head slightly tilted. It seemed like she hadn't noticed it. "Could you describe it?"

"I dunno, how do you describe something as ‘cold acidic’? Smells like a mix of iron, bleach, mildew, wet dog, but with like ten other smells tossed in. Blech, the hell do they use to clean here?" Cole half explained, half grumbled.

Now that Raven was away from himself, the smell started to creep back into his nose. He stuck his tongue out a bit in disgust. Hopefully this was the only place in town that smelled this way. Otherwise he might just sit inside for the time left.

"I can’t smell anything myself. But for the skin.., and maybe the smell, we are over a massive ley line and you have just awoken to your own powers. Could be doing something to you?" Raven offered as an explanation as she walked over, hand raised. Cole was about to snap at her but the back of her hand touched his forehead, not mouth. She held it there for a minute before removing it. "You don't feel warm to me."

"Yeah... well could be coming down with something. Could be that magic thing, dunno. Could we just bounce already?" Cole asked, glad to have her close again, if only to cut the smell down.

"Fair enough. I got what I wanted. But if you don’t mind, I’ll see if there’s another spot to take you. See if you have the same reaction." Raven said. Cole started to protest but Raven shot him one of her glares of 'You aren't arguing this' and he bit the argument back down into his throat.

"Joy. Allergy tests." Cole jokingly grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"Don't be such a baby about it." Raven said as she grabbed one of his arms and pulled him away from the wall.

Leaving the tunnel, Raven kept her arm around Cole's. When asked, she simply said she didn't want him to collapse on her or some other issue. Cole didn't complain given how simply being near her made him feel better. Maybe she was right about the whole Ley Line idea. If Raven was basically a larger 'pool' of magic, perhaps close proximity would block it from himself.

In an effort to distract him from whatever was effecting him, the hero simply asked him to start listing off some places he liked eating at. Cole did so; favoring dinner style food over fast food, and big portions. The Ma and Pa style restaurants that were usually in the side corner of a big place city like this.

As they left, the pair passed the guard from before who gave them a slight wave. Raven thanked the old man and wished him a good day. The old man responded with a nod and thumbs up. Cole was pretty sure he mouthed the words 'she's a keeper' when Raven had turned away. Cole couldn't really argue with him about that. Raven seemed to be a mix of 'Yeah she's pretty alright' and 'She's driving me a tad mad'.

"She aint all bad though just..., head strong." Cole thought as they left the park.

After about a block of walking, Cole felt better. Well enough to not need the support from Raven anymore. She did ask if he was still up to continuing the walk around town, to which he was. He just said that she'd by lunch to pay him back for the park stuff. Raven huffed but her eyes didn't reflect the annoyed posture.

"I know of a couple places near the park that might suit you. It's another reason I decided to come here; the abundance of local restaurants." Raven said coyly. It seemed she had planned coming to that ley line at some point or another. "Come on, I'll treat you like you asked. However, you pick up Dinner."

"Sounds good to me." Cole said as the two took off.