#carrierae

“I won’t shiv, it takes awhile for the game to pick up, but it’s the hottest thing where- er, when I’m from.” Carrie reached for Raven’s hand, giving the Titan a gentle squeeze before tugging on it. A signal and a promise of fun as she pulled her up along those hallowed steps.

The public library was hosting an after-hours murder mystery lock-in, and Raven had reluctantly agreed to the date. She had a vague hope that, since it was in familiar territory, it would be less emotionally taxing than other first date venues usually would be. So far, with a fairly empty parking lot greeting the duo, that seemed to be the case.

“Augmented reality, though?” She asked, letting playful skepticism drip with each word, “What? Was hiring an actor to sit in a pool of red dye and corn syrup too expensive?”

“Oof, don’t even get me started on the AR bugs you Gellenial Zeroes had to deal with.” The Robin gave a quick flash of a smile before she turned away in thought. “Or… wait, are you and the Titans actually just Millennials or-?”

“Let’s worry about the murder first, then about how badly you failed history, hmm?” She gave her own squeeze of the Robin’s hand before they slipped through the doorway, a couple of librarians greeting them at their entrance and directing the heroes where they needed to be.

Raven took a moment to remind herself to thank Victor and Dick later, for talking her out of the slacks and dress shirt outfit she and Kory originally planned out together. The environment around them was certainly much too casual. Most of the librarians had donned some form of costume for the event, mostly police uniforms or lab coats, but the patrons around them were in a more general mix of jeans and a sea of graphic tees.

“Nerds. Nerds everywhere,” Carrie whispered to her date under breath, and Raven let a snort loose despite herself. The Girl Wonder certainly had no room to poke such fun, what with her own bright red Flash shirt barely concealed by her forest green flannel.

Formal or nerd wear aside, Raven still stood out like a sore thumb, sporting a light blue gingham dress with plain flats. She could feel the heat of everyone’s curiosity on her back as she signed herself in. Whispered words and speculations as one of the coordinators handed the pair their souvenir ’CSI badges’.

“She looks kinda like-”

“-doesn’t wear her hair in a braid-”

“-be caught dead in a dress.. right?”

“Hey,” Carrie took hold of the empath’s hand again, shocking her out of everyone else’s emotions and right into her date’s instead. A hint of nervousness, a warm, electric layer of excitement, and a thrill of giddiness. “Let’s kick everyone’s butts at this! We do have an advantage, y'know.”