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Damian couldn't quite shake a sense of restlessness.
It would happen during morning meetings, in casual moments after a battle, or while the team was out together.
Raven, the mysterious sorceress, had a special smile she reserved only for the Titans.
Naturally, that smile extended to Damian Wayne—an observer by nature. It was a small smile, usually flickering across her face for only an instant.
Not a broad grin, but a subtle, quiet smile that seemed to appear spontaneously in unguarded moments.
For some reason, Damian never once missed those casual smiles.
It would be easy to attribute this to their rarity, yet he felt there was more to it than that.
He briefly wondered if he was truly that captivated, but he deliberately avoided pursuing the thought.
He knew that if he acknowledged the emotion, he would no longer be able to view her small smiles with his usual composure.
Damian let out a breath in his room. With every sigh, the memory of her smile grew more vivid. Trying not to dwell on the fact that he didn't mind this feeling, he quietly closed his eyes.
ー
"You've been smiling a lot lately."
As she walked down the hallway, Starfire’s cheerful voice suddenly rang out from behind her. Raven stopped her steady pace.
"Is there something that makes you happy?"
Raven remained silent as Starfire asked the question, hovering lightly in the air.
It wasn't that she disliked answering. It was the realization—coursing through her entire being—that she had been smiling enough for someone else to notice.
People smiled when they were happy or when something good had happened.
So, what exactly was it that made her happy?
The image of a boy—his cape a swirl of black and green—flashed through her mind. He showed a far wider range of emotions now than when they had first met.
Lately, the mere sight of him made a buoyant, fluttering feeling rise deep within her chest.
"…It was only when you pointed it out that I realized why I had smiled."
At the sound of her gentle voice, Starfire’s eyes widened in surprise before she, too, offered a soft smile.
Neither of them was simply accustomed to this particular emotion yet.
The seeds had long since been sown; now, they were merely waiting for the bloom.
It surely wouldn't be long before the two of them were seen wearing smiles in full, radiant bloom.
Wishing happiness for the future of these two who cared so deeply for one another, Starfire turned a gentle smile toward Raven.