It is a well-known fact that all people, regardless of their temperament, whether it be good or ill, have a limit to how much they can be patient. Some are better than others, of course, but the snapping point will always arrive if pressed.

For Tara Markov - better known as Terra - she'd been pressed enough this evening. It was one thing to have to constantly deal with her nightmares - to have the rest of the Titans constantly nearby like babysitters, however, was something else. It was frustrating to no end, trying to get them to leave her alone. Telling them repeatedly it was nothing. They just never seemed to take the hint!

As if that wasn't bad enough, regarding tonight's incident, she wasn't able to fall back asleep like she was usually, which only served to irritate her more. Oh, she tried her hardest, but all it did was end with her staring up at the ceiling, wanting to drift off, but peace would not come to her.

This continued to drag on for about half an hour, the blonde-haired girl's frown growing ever more apparent until she was scowling. She hated this, being left alone with her only own thoughts for company, and they were never pleasant. Damn it, why couldn't she just pass out? Sleep was supposed to be a solace - why must it be denied to her?

But was sleep ever helpful for you, either? A small voice nagged at the back of Terra's mind, and with a growl, she shook it off. Yet she still could not force herself to rest and forget, brief the respite would be.

Deep inside, she knew that the reason she was like this was out of fear. Her nightmares were a plague, ghosts she could not simply banish from her mind. Even if she could fall asleep again, they would most likely come back to haunt her. They always did.

Glancing over at the clock on her bed stand, Terra hissed when she saw the time. 10:30 P.M. An irritated grumble arose from her, and with a grunt, she pushed herself off the bed and onto her feet. Screw this, she thought to herself. If she wasn't going to fall asleep, then like hell she was going to stay in her room and lay here until morning.

Still, she also didn't want to leave and accidentally bump into one of the others, especially Green Bean. That was the last person she wanted to encounter tonight. Granted, with how late it was, he and the rest of the Team were probably already back in bed, but she didn't want to take any chances. She would have to be careful.

Opening the door slowly, Terra checked the hallway before stepping out of her room, making sure to keep quiet as she shut the door behind her afterward. She hadn't the faintest clue where she was going to go, she just wanted to be somewhere she wouldn't be bothered. The kitchen was off the table - Garfield had a habit of late night snacks before bed, and, besides, she wasn't hungry.

The living room was decent, but a little too open for her taste. She preferred at least some form of concealment, where she didn't think anyone would look for her. That left only the library. It was quiet enough, and no one went down there often. It only made sense for her to go there.

Thankfully, she didn't have to go very far, she just had to take the elevator to go down a couple floors, and as she hoped, when she arrived and the doors had slid open again, all was silent and still. Not a soul around to bother, or be bothered by.

A soft sigh escaped the girl as she exited the elevator, some of her earlier tension leaving her muscles and her mannerism. Without the feeling of the other Titans around and close by this time, she felt considerably more relaxed. It was a welcome change from her inner emotional turmoil from earlier - she could breathe a little easier.

Since she was by herself, Terra could afford to be a little leisurely in her pace as she walked over to the main couch in the center of the room, and sat herself down, reclining against the cushions with another low sigh of contentment. On the table in front of her, she could see multiple books stacked across the wooden top, and after some consideration, she pulled one from one of the columns.

In any normal circumstance, Terra was not big on reading - as a matter of fact, she avoided it. But as she had come down here for a distraction, she figured she might as well sit here and do so for an hour or two before she tried going back to sleep again. Hopefully, she'd be tired enough by then it wouldn't be any trouble.

Nevertheless, so strong was her contentment now as she indulged herself in the pages that it might have never occurred to her to double-check she was actually by herself, had she not happened to notice out of the corner her eye that another one of the books had somehow lifted itself from the table, and float upwards towards the ceiling.

The hell? Terra thought to herself as she followed the book's path, and near about jumped in her seat when she saw Kevin levitating several feet above her in a lotus position. The girl watched with wide eyes as the boy grasped the incoming book in one hand while guiding one he had just finished back down to the table, settling it neatly upon one of the stacks, much to Terra's bewilderment.

It took a minute for her to get over her shock—clearly, she wasn't as alone as she had thought. But how the hell hadn't she noticed him already? That was the part that really disconcerted her...but then, she had been preoccupied with her own thoughts, and she'd honestly thought no one would be around. Some double-agent you are, Terra, she scolded herself. I need to pay better attention.

Looking back up at Kevin, it occurred to Terra that she should get up and leave...but she didn't. Why, though? For that, she didn't quite have the answer. He hadn't seemed to notice her, or perhaps he had already but wasn't showing any signs of it. Either way, all he seemed to be doing was what Terra had been doing herself several moments ago - that is, just reading.

So late, though? Despite herself, Terra couldn't help but be a little curious, and it wasn't just simply part of her obligation to her mission, much of which involved discreetly studying her teammates. No, this time, her intrigue was genuine. What kind of a person - besides herself - stayed up at the ungodly hour of now almost 11:00 just to read?

At this point, it only now seemed to occur to Kevin that he wasn't by himself either, as a small frown overtook his expression as he glanced away from the page he had been reading and downward. His eyes widened a bit in surprise as he registered Terra sitting on the couch below him. "TERRA?" he said incredulously.

Terra wasn't sure if it was either his expression or just the way he said her name with such evident shock, but she found herself starting to grin with amusement, yet again uncharacteristic of her. Sternly, she forced herself to clear her expression to one of mere boredom and indifference. "Yeah, it's me," she said mildly. "What, were you expecting someone else?"

"Uh, no. I wasn't expecting anyone at all, actually," Kevin replied, his eyes still on her with a hint of shock. "What are you doing up? I thought everyone was asleep."

"Funny, I could ask you the same thing," Terra mused, cocking an eyebrow at him. "But could you answer that question without me having to break my neck?"

"Oh! Right, sorry. Give me a second," and closing his eyes, Kevin slowly willed himself downwards into the nearest available seat, a cushioned armchair right across from the geokinetic girl. "Better?"

"Much better," Terra confirmed with a nod, allowing Kevin to get himself comfortable before pressing her question again. "So what's your deal?"

"Nothing really, honestly," Kevin replied, pausing a moment to stick a scrap of cloth in between the pages he had been reading so as not to lose his place. "I'm usually the last person to fall asleep at any time. Frankly, it never came easily to me. Not unless I was dead tired."

"And how are you right now?"

"I might call it quits in another hour or so," Kevin said after giving it some thought. "Honestly, though, I might've nodded off sooner had I not realized you were in here. Quite the wake-up call for me."

"So I can see," said Terra, "I would've thought you heard me come in."

"Yeah, well, my extra set of ears decided to cut out early tonight," Kevin chuckled, pointing a finger towards his forehead, at the mark just between his temples, the symbol of Teighenth. Usually, it glowed faintly when the dragon was active, more so when Kevin drew upon his power, or if he was in a rage. Now, however, it lay dormant, so faint upon the boy's skin one might not have noticed it had they only taken a cursory look.

Terra tilted her head at this new piece of information. "The giant asshole sleeps?"

 "Oh, trust me, he does," Kevin said, grimacing slightly. "And he can be loud as hell about it. You can add that to why I'm up so late. Dragon snoring in your head is a nightmare in itself."

"Not as bad as mine, I bet," Terra heard herself say before she could stop herself, much to her chagrin. She hadn't meant to say anything, but it had just slipped.

But Kevin only nodded his head. "No," he agreed, "Not as bad as yours."

"You're not going to say anything?" Terra asked, surprised.

"What can I say without pissing you off?" Kevin asked, his tone gentle as always but his expression serious, striking the blonde into silence. The kid had a way of making you think, she would give him that. Every time the others had offered to talk to her, she'd always pushed them away. Kevin had obviously picked up on that, so he wasn't even trying, something she had trouble deciding whether to feel grateful or guilty about.

Currently, it was a mixture of both, and it was really messing with her composure. Noting that Kevin was still watching her, she shook herself. "As long as you stay off my case, you're good," she said shortly. "They're just nightmares."

"Nightmares that cause magnitude five quakes," Kevin pointed out, causing Terra to look at him sourly. "Observant, are we?"

"It's kind of hard to miss them," Kevin reasoned. "But empathy is more my strong suit. Living in a tower full of teenage superheroes means you pick up on a lot."

"Such as?" Terra asked, leaning forward in her seat with interest.

"Well, there's the sea of raging hormones as one example," Kevin began, and once again, it took some willpower on Terra's part to keep herself from cracking up. Clearing her throat, she listened as the warlock continued. "Ninety percent of the time, I sense it from Garfield, among other things. He tends to broadcast the loudest when it comes down to raw emotions."

"Really?" Terra said sarcastically. "I would never have guessed."

"He can be pretty obvious, yes. Admittedly, it's a little hard for me to read him because of it. Too many feelings clashing all at once. It's left me with headaches on more than one occasion."

"Glad to know I'm not the only one," Terra said wryly, a faint smile growing on her lips, but she took care to make sure that Kevin did not notice.

"He likes you, by the way," the boy continued on. "I mean, I'm not sure if you've already noticed..."

"Green Bean's not good at being subtle."

"Ok, you noticed then."

"He's just a jerk," Terra grumbled. "Always so full of himself."

"I think that's kind of unfair," Kevin said with a small frown, a bit offended considering that it was his friend the girl was talking about. "Garfield can be a lot of things, but a jerk isn't one of them."

"Soooooo him dropping a bucket of water on your head every other day of the week is OK with you?"

"Well, I didn't say that..."

Terra merely humphed in response, and the next few minutes were filled with an awkward silence, with Terra looking anywhere but at Kevin in her annoyance, and Kevin attempting to get back to his reading after growing uncomfortable with the quiet. A quiet sigh coming from the geokinetic, however, made him pause, as the girl reestablished eye contact with him. "...Sorry," she said finally. "I'm just-"

"Not good at being open," Kevin finished for her, his expression sympathetic. "I know."

"I guess you're going to tell me why, huh?" Terra presumed.

"Not if it'll make you uncomfortable."

"Well, you've kind of accomplished that already. Might as well get to talking."

"I suppose that makes sense," Kevin said, though he still remained hesitant, out of fear of potentially ticking off Terra again. But, she'd given him the ok, sort of. Better that he finish what he started, than not finish at all. "It's fear," he began, choosing his words carefully, "Fear is what holds you back the most, among other feelings. Anger, insecurity, sadness, just to name a few. Your nightmares obviously do not help. Ghosts of a past you want to bury, but haunts you every waking minute of each day. Yet you are so determined to deal with it on your own, you shut out everyone else, not wanting them to see your 'weakness'."

Terra said nothing as she listened to Kevin speak, taking in every word and weighing them carefully, and the entire time through it, her face remained expressionless, such that it was scaring the sorcerer a bit.

A part of her wanted to say that this wasn't his business. He had no reason for even bringing it up, and that it was a waste of his time, and more importantly, that he was wrong. She wasn't afraid of anything.

But something kept her from doing so, making the words die in her throat. Perhaps it was her conscience, or whatever she had left of it, but one thing was definitely clear: the boy had pretty much hit home. And to think he's only fifteen, she couldn't help but mull over with a hint of newfound respect. He certainly acts older than he is. Must come from sharing a body with a dragon for all his life.

"Well," she began slowly, after another moment of thinking to herself. "Guess there's really no hiding anything from you, is there?"

"As I said, empathy was always my greatest strength," Kevin reminded her with a faint smile, though not smugly, which would've annoyed her. "It's one way to better understand a person, and how best to treat them."

"Really? And how do you plan on treating me?"

"Same as I've been doing for a while," Kevin answered, his smile still evident, but his features slightly serious to express his point. "I respect your space, and like you, I also believe you just need some time to deal with your problems on your own. At least until you're ready to confide with the others. But if you ever just want to...you know, talk again like we did now, I'm always around. Especially now that you know where to find me."

"I will think about it," Terra snorted, but once more, she found it lacking her usual coarseness. Hell, even after Kevin practically prying into her personal feelings, she felt...honestly, a little less burdened. Something she never thought would happen, and for that, she had reason to be grateful to the sorcerer.

Something occurred to her then with that observation in mind. "You don't happen to have a job, do you?"

"No, why?"

"Nothing important. It's just that you would probably make a good therapist."

"Therapist?" Kevin echoed, and he chuckled nervously. "I don't know. I've been my own therapist for over five years, but I don't think I'd do very well with other people."

"Well, considering that this whole conversation has practically been a therapy session,  I'd say you did pretty good."

"How good is good, though?"

"Let's call it a B+ for now and leave it at that. Solely for not getting on my nerves."

"I can live with a B+," Kevin said with a laugh, right before a yawn left his lips. "Geezums, of course now I would be tired. I better go hit the hay, or else I'm not going to function at all tomorrow."

"Most logical sentence I've heard all evening," Terra agreed, stretching her arms out over her head as a yawn of her own escaped her. Out of courtesy to Kevin, she helped him in getting the books back in order, before the two of them headed off towards the elevator, to return to their respective rooms.

As they waited for the doors to open, Terra turned toward Kevin, her usually stoic features replaced with a look of gratitude and a bit of hesitation as she said, "Thank you, by the way. I'm sorry it's a little late, but...seriously, thank you. I didn't think I needed that until now."

"Anytime," Kevin said with a grin. "And don't worry, I won't say anything to the others about this."

"Oh, you better not," Terra said seriously. "Or else it'll be a really bad time for you. Other than that," and she allowed herself a hint of a smile. "I won't mind doing this again."

~ THE END ~