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The worst part about partners is that they know who you are, in and out. It's expected by the end of your second year of Beacon that you will know your partner as well as you know your own name.
That is why the flickering light of the TV failed to distract Raven from her thoughts this late at night.
Some part of her wished she went straight to training after returning from a mission, but she didn't want all her time with Summer to be spent as they are knee-deep in Grimm. So when Summer invited her to come watch a show she’s been dying to watch with her, there was no hesitation.
Now, as Summer quiets down from over explaining a cartoon show to someone who can barely remember the name of the show, and lays her head on Raven’s shoulder, instead of being comforted, Raven feels tortured.
Raven felt the embers of Summer's Aura on top of her. Usually this made her feel so warm, so comforted, her body couldn’t help but relax its muscles, and release a breath she did not know she was holding in. She could stop pretending to be Raven Branwen the Bandit Queen (self-proclaimed, Qrow reminds her), just Raven Branwen. She loves that feeling, she’s helplessly drawn to it as a moth is drawn to open flame. It feels natural to her, like second skin.
Sometimes it felt like Raven had the sun all to herself.
But a creature of the night is not meant to bask in sunlight.
Aura is the manifestation of one’s soul. It has many applications in combat, but it also has many applications outside of it. A person versed in Aura can feel the emotions of another Aura-wielding individual through an exchange of Auras, even when both have turned them off. Naturally good people have such bright and comforting Aura. Naturally evil people have unpleasant and miserable Aura.
One can do this just by spending a lot of time around someone, but a faster way to explore someone’s Aura tends to be through touch. One can build a psychological profile of a person just through how their Aura feels, but one can only graze the surface of one’s Aura by just randomly touching them. Wanted touches tend to yield more emotions, both souls agreeing to explore more of each other. Handholding, hugging, kissing, etc, touch is so important to Huntsmen and Huntresses.
It’s easy for Raven to guess which category she fell into.
One day, Summer said that Raven’s soul is burning after they shared a kiss, but how long will it be before she discovers the truth? Raven is a wildfire. She's violent, destructive, she will swallow you whole and leave nothing but ash.
Raven’s hands are stained with blood that can never be washed away. It’s only a matter of time before Summer starts noticing some on hers...
Summer takes Raven’s hand with her own, lacing her fingers with hers, holding it like she has a physical need. She wants to touch her, to hold her, to be as close to her as possible…
Raven draws away.
Summer looks up at her, puzzled, trying to decide how best to voice her thoughts. She paused the cartoon. Raven gulped.
"Raven,” Summer proceeded, a voice so gentle that one might mistake her to not be an accomplished Huntress. “Is something bothering you?"
"No."
" Raven ."
Raven squeezed her eyes shut.
"Please don't make me say it." Raven pleaded, opening her eyes to look directly at her silver-eyed girlfriend. Summer kept the gaze, denying Raven’s plea for silence. She wanted to get this out of the way before Raven wised up and shut Summer out. She can handle anything as long as Raven was with her.
Raven sighed, "It's just…….you're a really good person, Summer. And I'm not even close. I'm not used to all this…..touching and I'm….afraid.”
“Yeah….I'm afraid,” Raven sounded out, gaining more confidence in saying those words. It should be okay to voice this to Summer. “My Aura feels-is ugly, and I don’t want you to discover something about me and look at me differently before I’m ready to tell you.”
"Oh, Raven.” Summer rose up from leaning on Raven. “You should have told me I was making you feel uncomfortable."
"You didn’t mean to." Raven chuckled, “And I didn’t know how to say ‘Don’t hug me’ without making you feel weird.”
"It wouldn't have felt weird to me, baby. Raven, I will never think less of you.” Summer smiled, wordlessly telling her girlfriend that everything is safe, with her it’s safe, it will always be safe. Raven couldn’t help but respond back with her own smile, her stoic face being replaced by one Summer came to cherish. “You mean too much to me for that to happen. I’ll wait however long it takes until you’re comfortable sharing your past with me.”
“Raven?”
“Yeah?”
Summer extended her hand to caress Raven’s face. She could feel Raven planning to run away from her touch again, and it made her sad, but she didn’t want to let that show. Not now. She knows Raven hasn’t had the best life, that there’s something more to her story with the way she fights and eats and the fact that she practically sleeps with both eyes open even while she’s inside one of the strongest settlements on Remnant.
But whatever it is, at the end of the day, that’s her Raven, one whose Aura burns with such passion, she could never get enough.
“Your Aura is so, so beautiful, baby. I hope one day you’ll know how wonderful it makes me feel.” Summer whispers. Raven’s face crumbled, Summer banishing her fears back into the depths of her mind long enough for her to sink into the feeling.
It felt so good.
"Can we go back to watching this Fullmetal Scientist show?"
"You're lucky I love you enough to ignore that you did that on purpose."
Raven watched Summer fiddle with the remote, trying to rewind the episode a few minutes back but accidentally increased the rewind speed, shooting back to basically the beginning. One day she’s going to have to tell Summer the truth, and convince her that her loyalties lie with the family she chose, not the one that she was born into. Even if it means being banished from the sunlight forever.
But tonight, she should just shut up and watch a cartoon with her girlfriend.
As Summer adjusted herself on the couch, Raven leaned in and wrapped herself around Summer, burying her face in the crook of Summer's neck. Summer happily leaned into it.
Raven quickly drifted off into sleep, under the light of her sun.