I 'Verb' You
Gliding on the wind, he looked down and scanned the area with his sharp vision. Many people walking around carrying on with their daily business. But they weren't the ones he was looking for. Fifteen inmates had escaped after an explosion had ruptured the security at the city prison. Most were pretty harmless, imprisoned for petty theft and evading arrest, but others had been confined for heinous crimes. But no matter how threatening they were all were to be recaptured. And for the Titans this was no difficult task. Nightwing and Starfire had gone in one direction and Beast Boy and Raven went in another. Cyborg stayed behind to help guard and repair the hole in the side of the prison. The changeling flew down to a rooftop and changed back to himself.
"Can you see any of them?" Raven asked, landing beside him.
"No, not yet," he said, peering down below. "Jeez, there's a lot of people out today."
"That's what happens when it's nice out," she said, shielding her eyes from the sun that refused to be stopped by the brim of her hood.
"True," he agreed. "Wish we could take advantage of it instead of scouring the city looking for escapees."
"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to run around the park once we find these guys," she replied.
"True but I sense it's gonna rain this afternoon," he said, sniffing the air. "My animal-rain-senses are tingling. Speaking of senses, can you sense anything?"
"Stop saying sense," she said, slightly annoyed and did her best to concentrate. She closed her eyes and tried to pick out emotions that did not belong in the public but it was useless. There were too many people, too many conflicting feelings, too much for her to take in. She felt nauseas and her temples throbbed. She groaned and rubbed her head. "Sorry, I can't focus in on anything."
"Alright let's head east then," he suggested.
"Any particular reason why?" she asked.
"Well we'll be downwind and I should be able to pick up their scent," he replied. "You okay? You're looking a little paler than usual."
"I'm fine," she said firmly and flew off.
He could sense that something was wrong but also knew that it would do them no good to fight about it now. If there was one thing he'd finally learned over the years, albeit the hard way, it was that when it came to Raven it was best to save any questions or grievances until after a mission and after she'd had time to decompress when they got back to the tower. This way they avoided confrontation, both on and off the field of battle, and were far more civil to each other. He morphed into a bloodhound and began sniffing and jumping from roof to roof, changing into other animals when needed to make the distance or height.
After about ten roofs he smelt something on the wind that made him come to a halt. It was the smell of sweat, fear, and prison laundry detergent. He barked up at Raven and took off after the scent. She was quick to follow after him, relieved that they had a lead. She hadn't been able to focus at all. She was glad to not be working alone or else she'd be in real trouble.
Finally he spotted seven men in grey jumpsuits huddled together at the dead end of an alley. They seemed to be arguing and in a panic, as they should be. He transformed back to himself and waved his teammate over to him, which she quickly answered. They carefully looked down at the seven and thought.
"Well we can't split them up evenly so do you want three or four?" he whispered. When she didn't respond he glanced her way. Her eyes were closed, her brow was furrowed tightly, and she was taking in deep, stiff breaths. This was not normal. Something was definitely wrong. "Raven?"
She snapped out of it and sighed. "Sorry, I'm having trouble concentrating. I'm absorbing too much and I can't seem to put any mental barriers up for very long."
"Hey, don't worry about it," he said with a reassuring grin and pat her on the back. "Take a breather and let me know when you're ready to go. I'll keep my eyes on them."
"This isn't something I can fix in a minute or two," Raven clarified. She felt incredibly disappointed in herself that she couldn't do her job and that she was showing weakness, especially in front of Beast Boy. But she'd been struggling with this issue a lot lately and knew when to admit she was useless. "I think you should call for backup."
He looked below and saw the group still talking but apparently ready to move out. He knew that they needed to act quickly or they'd miss this perfect chance. And there was no one around to lend a hand anyway; they were all busy dealing with this very situation! But he also knew that if Raven said she was in no condition to fight then she was in no condition to fight. But he needed at least some assistance if he wanted to apprehend all of them. "Look, how about you guard the exit out to the street and I'll take care of them? It's a dead end so if you block them from leaving I should wipe them out no problem. Think you can manage that? Cuz if not I'll think of something else."
She looked at the group of desperate men down below. "Are you sure you can handle all seven of them? They won't go down easily."
"No one understands the psyche of a cornered animal more than me," he smirked. "You just keep them from getting out and I'll take them down. Ready?"
"If you are."
"Let's go."
She flew to the other end of the alley and stood in between the buildings right before the sidewalk. Beast Boy transformed into a black bear and landed on three of the men, knocking the wind out of them and startling all seven. They jumped up as quickly as they could and attempted to fight him off or flee but didn't manage either. He began knocking them left and right with his mighty paws into the brick walls of the two buildings. Within ten seconds he'd knocked out four while the other three made a run for it. Raven put up a dark energy barrier to stop them and Beast Boy turned into a gorilla. He grabbed each one and tossed them all in a pile.
He morphed into his human form and said, "You're cornered, guys. And unless you want me to knock you around some more I suggest giving up."
The men groaned and looked to each other. Finally they grumbled and put their hands in the air, the three that were conscious that is. Beast Boy smiled and quickly went to cuff each of them. Once they were all apprehended Raven put down her barrier and went over to help. She was able to wake the four that had been knocked out and began to read all seven their rights while he contacted Nightwing.
"Got seven of them. How're you guys doing?"
"We've got the other eight," said Nightwing. "We'll meet you at the prison."
"Are we sure it's secure?" he asked. "Did Vic finish patching it up?"
"He said it's all set," said Nightwing.
"Cool, we'll see you there," he said and shoved his communicator back into his pocket and turned to Raven. "How do you wanna transport them?"
"I'll take us all there," she said, accessing her powers. "I think I can handle that much. Besides, it's the quickest way." She wrapped all nine of them in her dark energy and off they took, soaring through the air looking like the shadow of a large bird. Seconds later they were before the prison that was still smoking from the earlier explosion. Cyborg was waiting, having been alerted by Nightwing that the group was coming in, along with many guards to help move the prisoners back inside.
"Nice job," he smiled. "You guys actually made it back before Dick and Kori."
"Yes! Leaving the leader in the dust," Beast Boy cheered. "Who's got two green thumbs and is awesome? This guy."
"Uh huh, and I'm sure you did it all by yourself," Cyborg rolled his eyes. "How many did he get, Raven?"
She uncomfortably brought her cloak around her and said, "I didn't keep count." She was ashamed that she hadn't been able to take a single one of them down and hoped Beast Boy wouldn't flaunt his amazing work that day.
Luckily for her the changeling guessed she didn't want anyone to know that she'd left the fighting up to him. "Doesn't matter cuz fact of the matter is that we got here before our fearless leader. I think that's earned us some bragging rights."
"Whatever, just don't get too cocky," Cyborg said and began to drag four of the criminals inside along with the three other guards who grabbed the remaining men.
"Hard not to get cocky when I can turn into one!" Beast Boy called after his best friend but then thought about what he's said and added, "And by that I meant a rooster kind of cock!"
"I know what you meant!" Cyborg hollered back.
Beast Boy chuckled then looked over to the empath. Somehow she'd wandered a few meters away and seemed to be in deep thought. Her head was down and she was chewing the inside of her cheek absentmindedly. He knew he should wait until they got back to the tower but he hadn't seen her this out of it in quite some time. He headed over, making sure to approach slowly and cautiously. He stooped down to try and see her face under her hood. She stood nearly half a head shorter than him now and he often had trouble finding her eyes in times like these. "Still not feeling good?"
"No," she sighed. "Not at all."
"Why don't you head back to the tower? I'll tell the other's that you've got a headache."
She was torn between staying and going. She didn't want to leave before the mission was officially over but knew she would be of no use to them anyway if something did go awry. Finally she sighed and nodded. "I think that might be for the best. But let me know if anything happens."
"You got it," he assured her. She gave him a nod of thanks and flew off into the air. He watched as she became a small speck in the distance and sighed, rubbing his neck. He didn't like it when any of his friends were out of sorts but it really unnerved him when it was Raven. When she wasn't feeling right it meant bad things could happen. He was just glad that she now trusted him to take of things and bear her burden when it was necessary. He wasn't a child anymore and for her to acknowledge that really made him feel confident in himself, among other things.
Raven made it home and quickly went to her room. She had never been so glad to confine herself in her dark and quiet place of sanctity. She couldn't feel anything here. No thousands of emotions trying to invade her psyche, just silence. She could feel the pressure in her brain releasing immediately and she began to meditate. She needed to fix this issue of hers and soon or else how could she stay on the team?
Back at the prison, Nightwing and Starfire soon arrived with the rest of the escaped prisoners and handed them over. The missing presence of Raven did not go unnoticed by the team's leader, naturally, and Beast Boy told him where she'd gone and why.
"Did she seem okay or is it really just a headache?" asked Nightwing.
"To be honest she didn't seem like herself," Beast Boy admitted. "When I offered to do the physical part of the take down she didn't even argue with me. Now come on, we all know that normally she'd never take an offer like that seriously. She'd tell me to shut up and swoop in to kick ass! But today she seemed…off."
"I see," Nightwing's brow furrowed. "Come on, let's head home."
Beast Boy contently hummed to himself as he walked down the hallway towards the common room. He'd had a good nap after the mission and was now in the mood to snack on something before dinner. He proceeded through the common room doors and spotted Cyborg partially under the sink, fixing a leak he'd discovered that morning. The changeling cackled with wicked intent, made his way to the sink, and hopped up on the counter. He reached over to turn the faucet on but a voice quickly stopped him.
"Don't even think about it."
"I wasn't gonna do anything," the changeling lied with a chuckle.
"The hell you weren't," Cyborg said from beneath. "Keep your claws off that handle until I tell you."
"I dunno, I'm really tempted to turn it on now," Beast Boy smirked.
"Gar, I swear to God…" Cyborg growled.
"Dude, relax!" Beast Boy laughed and jumped down. He went to the cabinet and grabbed a box of cheese flavored crackers and began to munch. "So you almost done? I wanna play some Rumble Racers."
"Yeah but I need to change the oil in the T-ship first," said Cyborg. "You wanna help?"
"Sure, I need something to do," Beast Boy shrugged.
The common room doors opened and Starfire walked in, her hands clasped. "Friends, I am most concerned for Raven. I believe she is not feeling well."
"We already knew that," Cyborg stated, sliding out from under the sink.
"Yeah, that's why I sent her home early from the prison takedown," Beast Boy added.
"But I believe it is worse than we suspected," said Starfire. "She has requested that we not bother her for the rest of the evening."
"How is that different from usual?" Cyborg laughed lightly.
"Please, this is not a time for levity," Starfire stomped her foot. "She says she will not partake in dinner and that she does not want anyone even in her hallway. This is not her usual behavior, correct? That is why I believe we should be worried."
"I don't think she's sick, I think she's just…having an off day," said Beast Boy. "Then again, what do I know?"
"If something was wrong with her body I would have picked it up with my sensors," said Cyborg. "But her vitals have been normal all day." They all heard the door open and watched as their leader walked through. "Hey man, you check in on Raven?"
"I did the checking on her," Starfire pouted, feeling annoyed that her report on her friend wasn't being taken seriously.
"I just talked to her," said Nightwing. "She's alright, just stressed. We've gotta just let her be for now."
"Why did she not tell me that she was suffering from the stress when I inquired her condition?" asked Starfire.
"According to her, you were asking a million questions a second and weren't helping her condition by becoming hysterical," Nightwing explained.
"So it's just stress?" asked Beast Boy.
"It's not just that," Nightwing shook his head. "She said that as of late her powers have become stronger. The way she puts it is that she can control what she's putting out but not what she's taking in. So the problem isn't keeping her emotions in, it's keeping everyone else's emotions out. She's been trying to put up a stronger mental barrier but hasn't been successful."
"Why are they getting stronger?" asked Cyborg.
"She doesn't know but she thinks they may continue to get stronger with age," Nightwing shrugged. "Apparently every demon offspring's powers, even if they're half-demon, are different and can sometimes alter as they grow. And if she can't get a handle on this she can't see how she can be of any use to us on missions. That's why she's stressed."
"Then we are to respect her wishes and leave her alone?" asked the alien princess sadly.
"Yes," Nightwing said firmly. "Until she says otherwise we need to give her her space."
Starfire pouted sadly and floated out of the common room with her head low, twirling long tresses of her ruby hair around her fingers unhappily. She hated it when any of her friends was not feeling like themselves. And she hated it even more when there was nothing she could do about it.
"By the way," Nightwing said, turning to the changeling, "she wanted me to thank you for how you handled things today. I can't believe you took down all seven at once. Good job."
"You did what?" said Cyborg, quite surprised.
"Well she wasn't feeling good so I had to," said Beast Boy, still proud of himself.
"She also said that she was really impressed," Nightwing added with a smile.
Beast Boy felt himself slightly blush. He'd had a crush on the empath for a while now and, unfortunately for him, the other two men in the tower had figured this out rather quick. He scratched the back of his neck to hide how flustered he felt and said, "Really? Wow, I don't hear that often."
"Especially not from her," Cyborg smirked and jogged his friend in the arm.
"Yeah, well, if she's praising me then she mustn't be feeling good," he said and felt his ears burn bashfully.
"Yup," Cyborg nodded.
"Definitely," Nightwing chuckled. "Well I'm gonna go see if I can cheer Kori up. I'm sure she's going to try to sneak over to Raven's door sooner or later."
"And we've got a T-ship to oil," said Cyborg, indicating to himself and the changeling. "You wanna join us for Rumble Racers later?"
"Save me a controller," Nightwing said over his shoulder and left. "By the way, it's your night to cook."
"Yeah yeah," Cyborg shooed him off. "Jeez, as if I don't have enough to do in a day. Come on, you can help me change the oil and decide what I should make for dinner." He began to walk but realized his friend hadn't moved. He stopped and looked back at him. "Gar?"
Said green man seemed to be in deep thought. "Dinner…"
"You got an idea?" asked Cyborg.
"No, I was just thinking," Beast Boy replied. "If Raven's not gonna join us for dinner maybe we should leave something outside of her door. Like an apple and a pot of tea. I don't see how having an empty stomach can help you relax and concentrate. Why don't you go on ahead. I'm gonna make up a tray for her then meet you down there."
Cyborg couldn't help the small smile that grabbed his lips. Beast Boy wasn't very good at hiding his crush, though he thought he was. "Well isn't that thoughtful of you? But how're you gonna get it to her door if she doesn't want anyone in her hallway?"
"She won't mind if I just knock and leave it… right?" said the changeling, not very confident in his own belief.
Both began to ponder this.
A half an hour later the oil in the T-ship had not been changed nor had there been a game of Rumble Racers played. Instead, Cyborg and Beast Boy were at the edge of the hallway that held Raven's room and were putting the finishing touches on a remote controlled tray that had wheels. On top was a pot of tea, an apple, a pack of crackers, and peanut butter. The two felt quite proud of what they'd come up with and carefully began to drive the contraption towards her door.
"Why can't I do it?" Beast Boy pouted.
"Cuz I know what I'm doing," Cyborg whispered back.
"You never let me drive."
"Shh, it's almost there."
The tray approached the empath's door and paused in front of it. Cyborg pushed a button and out came a rather comical looking gloved hand. It knocked on the door then quickly reverted back into the machine. As soon as it had knocked the two had scurried away as quickly as they could. Cyborg flipped open part of his arm and the two watched on a concealed screen the image of Raven's door, thanks to a camera they'd also installed.
The door slowly slid aside and revealed Raven, who didn't seem pleased. She looked to be about to scold whoever it was that knocked but stopped when she saw that no one was there. She looked down and saw the tray as well as a note that lay on top.
"What's that?" Beast Boy whispered to his friend.
"Just a little message," Cyborg replied quietly. 'And hopefully a little nudge forward,' he thought to himself. He believed it was about time Raven got a clue about the changeling's feelings for her and if he had to leave the trail of breadcrumbs he was glad to do it.
She picked the note up and quickly read it.
Raven,
Thought you might want something for dinner.
-Gar
She cracked a small smile and picked the tray up. "Thanks," she said into the camera she'd found rather easily then disappeared into her room.
"Mission…" Beast Boy said, holding out his fist.
"…Accomplished," Cyborg said, bumping said fist with his own.
"So what did you write?" ask Beast Boy, curiously.
"Just that I was worried about her," Cyborg lied with a smirk.
"What about me?! It was my idea in the first place," Beast Boy exclaimed.
Cyborg only laughed.
The atmosphere in her room was cool and quiet. She sat within the air, mind centered and concentration at its peak. Her curtains were drawn and the room would be cloaked in dark silence if not for a dozen candles slowly burning and the mantra gently falling from her lips. She felt relief at last and was thankful for the clarity in her mind. The nauseas that had held fast in her stomach had settled and the headache had been numbed. It had taken a good three hours but she was finally feeling well. Now if she could only hold this composure outside of her room.
She hadn't expected her power to grow with age and thus she had no plan on how to deal with it. She'd been trying to strengthen her mental barriers but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't keep the emotions of others from slipping in. It was a terrible business and often caused her to not only endure terrible nausea and headaches but also mood swings and anxiety. Perhaps now that she was feeling better she could do some research on her heritage and hopefully find an answer. But she was exhausted. It had been a while since she'd felt so decent and she could think of nothing more than collapsing onto her bed and resting. But there wasn't time for it; a new mission could come at any moment. She needed to press forward and get herself on the right track to controlling her powers.
For a very long while she poured over her texts, searching for help with her predicament. But nothing seemed helpful, leaving her back at square one. She felt her stress headache returning and decided to take a break. It had been quite some time since she'd felt so helpless. She decided to bring her dishes to the kitchen and maybe go to the roof for some air.
She entered the common room and found Cyborg washing dishes while Beast Boy and Starfire were sitting at the table with a book and pads of paper. They were all surprised to see her and all froze instantly. She hated it when she was treated like a feral animal but understood their behavior.
"It's alright, I'm just stretching my legs," she said, bringing her dishes over to Cyborg. "Pretend I'm not here."
"Feeling any better?" asked Cyborg.
"Yes and no," she sighed. "I won't bore you with the details." She then looked over to the other two Titans who were evidently very entertained with their papers. "What are they doing?"
"Gar's teaching her Mad Libs," he said.
"Why?" She wasn't very well acquainted with the game but did know of it.
Cyborg snorted to himself. "Dick said something to her about wanting to play games in the bedroom. She asked us what kind of games they should play so Gar's playing a prank on them. Serves her right for asking us, though."
"It's not nice to use Kori's naivety against her."
"Come on, it's not like we're being mean," Cyborg defended himself and the changeling. "Besides, Dick should've explained what he meant by bedroom games in the first place."
"Well… it is pretty harmless so I won't say anything else," Raven shrugged in the end.
"You ever play?"
"Bedroom games? Not often."
"No, Mad Libs."
"I can't say that I have."
"Well that's just wrong. Gar! Raven's never played before!"
The two at the table looked up and in an instant Starfire had flown to her side. Raven felt quite annoyed, seeing as she'd wanted to be ignored. It was her own fault for starting a conversation with Cyborg.
"Oh, it is a most enjoyable game!" Starfire gushed and took her hand. "Please come play with us!"
"I'm sort of in the middle of conquering my growing powers," said Raven, trying to pull out of her friend's grasp but failing.
"How's that going?" asked Beast Boy, finding a clear sheet they could use.
"Not very well," the empath sighed. "I've been racking my brain and researching every source I own but I can't figure out what to do."
"Then you definitely need a break," said the green man, patting the spot next to him. "Come on, sit down and play a little. It'll probably do you good."
"How will playing a word game do me any good?" she asked skeptically.
"Well whenever I'm stuck on something hard like a level I can't beat in a videogame I take a break and do something else and then before I know it I think of a solution," he explained. "You gotta forget about it in order to figure it out."
"That's an interesting theory," said Raven, still not sold.
"Please, Raven, play with us," Starfire pleaded. "I must go perform bedroom customs with Dick soon and I would like to play once with you before I commence a game with him."
Raven really didn't want to do this, it was the opposite of her intentions when she'd left her room, but it had been a while since she'd joined her friends in a frivolous manner. "Fine, what do I have to do?"
"Yay!" Starfire cheered and pushed Raven into the table so that she sat between them. "Garfield is a most skilled player."
"That's only cuz it's one of the easiest games on the planet," Cyborg said from the sink.
"Shut it, Trash Can!" Beast Boy hollered back. "Okay, it's real simple. I'm just gonna ask you for words and then I'll put them into an already written paragraph and we'll end up with something silly. Kori, let's do one to show her how it's done."
"Oh yes," Starfire clapped.
Beast Boy flipped to a new page in the book of Mad Libs and got his pen and paper ready. "Okay, first I need a noun."
"Hmm… dog!"
"A place."
"The Titans Tower."
"An adjective."
"Glorious."
This went on a few times then Beast Boy plugged the words into their respective spots and read the paragraph aloud. It was quite nonsensical and both the alien and shape-shifter laughed at the result. Raven thought it was quite pointless and couldn't quite get what was so amusing about creating a story that made no sense.
"See? It's not so hard," said Beast Boy.
"It doesn't seem very fun either," said Raven.
"Perhaps Raven requires a more advanced story," Starfire suggested. "But I had much fun, Garfield. Thank you so much for teaching me the Mad Libs. May I take the book so that Dick and I may play in the bedroom?"
"Knock yourself out," said Beast Boy, disheartened by Raven's response to the game.
"Thank you! I shall return it tomorrow," Starfire smiled and flew off.
"Well that was a waste of five minutes," Raven sighed and stood up.
"Sorry, I thought it would take your mind off things," Beast Boy apologized. "Though, for the record, that was the children's version. You might have more fun with the adult edition or the naughty edition."
"If there is a naughty edition you should've given that one to Kori," said Raven.
"Where's the fun in that?" Beast Boy chuckled. "Besides, I only have the kid one. But we could make one up on our own. How about we both write a paragraph?"
She really didn't want to but he did seem to genuinely want to help her out. And, who knows, there may be something to his theory about taking your mind off of the problem in order to find the answer. She sat back down and took some paper. "Alright, let's see if this is any more amusing."
"You don't have to if you don't want to," he assured her. The last thing he wanted was for her to make herself feel worse because she was humoring him. "You know what's best for you, after all."
"Normally that's true but at the moment I haven't the faintest idea what's best for me," she admitted and began to write. "Now get to work. If Dick comes in here to kick your ass because you ruined his romantic plans he'll leave you alone if he sees you're helping me."
"Good thinking," he laughed and began to write.
Cyborg watched the two of them and decided to sneak out. It was rare those two had time alone together and if anything was going to progress between them they needed some shared solitude. Another nudge forward.
At first Beast Boy hadn't been sure what to write. He started a few times but quickly crossed the words out. He looked over to the empath and felt his heart yearn. She was so incredible and completely out of his league, as Cyborg and Nightwing had pointed out numerous times. But despite knowing he didn't deserve her he couldn't stop the longing, the dreaming. These feelings had come and gone many times over the years but no matter what a part of him was always looking towards her, admiring her. He supposed she was the only woman he'd ever had feelings for that he cherished not only her good points but her bad ones as well. He believed the fact that he could acknowledge that she had bad points was a sign that he had matured. She was smart, she was strong, she was wise but she was also guarded, stubborn, and insecure. She was a complicated enigma that made him want to be a better man, want to deserve her.
"Alright, I'm done," she said, putting her pen down.
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked down at his paper only to realize, in horror, that he'd written a love note instead of a simple paragraph long story. "Uh, er, give me another second," he squeaked, covered what he'd written with his arm and went to erase the confession.
"You stopped writing a minute ago and have been staring off into space," she pointed out. "How can you not be finished?"
"I just wanna make sure I didn't make any spelling errors," he lied.
"What does it matter? It's not like I'm going to read it," she said.
"Oh… that's true," he realized. She wasn't going to read it so he could just make one up as he went. "Okay, you want to go first?"
"Fine. I need an adjective, a noun, another noun, a verb, an adjective, a verb, and a noun."
Beast Boy wrote down what was needed then said, "Pretty, waffle, videogame, jump, shiny, sneezing, pickle."
"Alright, here's the story: There once was a pretty waffle that wanted nothing more than a videogame so that it could jump at night. It asked its shiny mother for some advice. They were told to try sneezing and having a glass of pickle. It worked."
Beast Boy chuckled. "Come on, that was pretty funny."
"It just seems juvenile to me," she shrugged. "Well it's your turn. Maybe if I choose some big words this game will amuse-"
"Gar!" Nightwing's voice echoed as he stomped into the room.
"Ah! What?" Beast Boy jumped.
The team's leader marched over to him and grabbed him by the collar. "What the hell do you think you're doing teaching my girlfriend bedroom games?!"
"Please, Dick, do not harm Garfield!" Starfire flew in after her furious boyfriend. "He only did as I asked!"
"That doesn't make it right," Nightwing fumed. "And shame on you for cheating on me!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Beast Boy barked while he was being choked out. "Who cheated with who now?"
"I did not do the cheating," Starfire insisted, quite angry at the presumption. "Garfield merely played the game with me until I understood."
"Dude, did she even tell you what game I taught her?" Beast Boy asked as he tried to pull himself out of the enraged man's grasp.
"I tried to tell him but he became quite irritated and would not listen," Starfire explained.
"Mad Libs! I taught her how to play Mad Libs!" Beast Boy shouted.
"Yeah right," Nightwing spat.
"Tell him, Raven, please!" Beast Boy begged.
"They played Mad Libs with each other," Raven replied frankly. "He was attempting to play a prank on you."
Nightwing ceased in his attack on his teammate. "Mad Libs?"
"It is the truth," said Starfire. "Garfield taught me how to play the Mad Libs."
There was a beat of silence then Beast Boy was finally released from Nightwing's grasp. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Me?! You're the one trying to kill me over nothing," said Beast Boy, scrambling away from his attacker. "Jesus, it was just a joke!"
"Not a funny one but not mean spirited either," Raven pointed out. "Besides, you should have clarified what a bedroom game is to Kori in the first place. Anyone could have guessed she wouldn't know what you meant."
"Yeah, well, someone should've told her then when she started asking questions," said Nightwing, his flushing. "Or just sent her to me."
"Well go explain it to her properly now," said Raven.
"Please, what needs to be explained?" asked Starfire, confused.
"Come on," said Nightwing, taking her hand and leading her out of the room. "You see, when I said bedroom games…"
Once the couple had left the two remaining Titans cleaned up the mess that had been made. Beast Boy was rubbing his neck and grumbling to himself about the team leader overreacting. Raven felt that she should have never left her room.
"So do you wanna continue where we left off?" he asked.
"I'm going to go back to my room, if it's all the same to you," she replied.
"Yeah, okay," he said, feeling that was probably for the best. "Sorry my attempt to divert your attention for a bit didn't work."
"It's alright, thanks any…" she began but stopped abruptly. Suddenly it came to her. Divert! If she was able to divert the effort and energy she put into keeping her emotions under control to energy she needed to strengthen her mental barrier then she just may be able to manage her powers again. "Well I'll be damned. You may have been right."
"Huh?" Beast Boy raised his eyebrow.
"I might have just thought of a solution to my problem," she clarified and for the first time in many days her eyes seemed bright and maybe even a little bit excited.
"Really? Well alright!" he cheered. "Glad I could help."
"So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go see if this works," she said and headed out. "Oh, and if it does I'd like to have a talk with you about this." She held out a piece of paper in her hand.
He looked at it oddly before he realized it was the confession he'd absentmindedly scribbled down. "W-Wait! How'd you get that? It's not what you think!"
"We'll see about that," she said flatly and vanished from the room.
Beast Boy felt his entire body become inflamed and a desire to go jump off the roof took hold of him. Now he wished Nightwing had choked him out. And what made it all the more worse was that he hadn't even erased some of the words, which could have left the meaning behind it ambiguous. But since he'd decided to just make up a new one on the fly he'd left it as it was; complete. Was this karma for what he'd done to Nightwing and Starfire? If it was this seemed a little extreme.
She levitated high above the city, the cool night air whipping her cloak about her body mercilessly. She inhaled deeply and then let out a contented sigh. How lovely it was to be outside of the tower and still feel at ease. She flew down and weaved within the shadows of the darkness in the alleys so that no one would see her. And still she felt herself in complete control. She could sense thousands of emotions but none were getting through her new, stronger mental barrier. Feeling the test was successful she headed back home.
It really had been simple, after all that fretting. Though she'd gained incredible management over her emotions it turned out she'd overshot the amount of control that was truly needed. So she loosened the leash and focused the surplus energy on her psychic wall, instantly strengthening it and giving her mind great relief.
Upon arriving back at the tower she felt as though she could sleep for a week. But there was something she had to settle first; that silly changeling and his love note. She found it incredibly amusing that he thought he had a 'secret' crush on her. No one could have a secret crush on her, not unless they had the ability to mask their emotions. She had felt his feelings for her grow and shrink many times over the years but this was the first time they'd stuck around and actually enhanced. She hadn't expected a confession any time soon but seeing as he'd fumbled by writing that paragraph she decided she might as well wrap things up for him; put the poor man out of his lovesick misery.
She sensed him in his room and the anxiety exuding out was outstanding. No one knew how to overthink and worry like Beast Boy, though he'd never admit it. She was probably the only one who knew, as a matter-of-fact. But it was time to end his suffering. She knocked on his door and waited.
"Thank God!" she heard him say then the door moved aside. "What took you so-" He stopped short as soon as he saw her and the blood drained from his face. "Uh… h-hi."
"Hello," she replied. "I'm sorry, you were obviously expecting someone else. Should I come back later?"
"No," his voice cracked. "Vic was just, uh, getting something for me."
"Something important from the sound of it," she said, a smirk in her eyes.
"Yeah, well, you know," he sputtered nonsensically. "So, uh, did you fix your powers or whatever?"
"I did, as a matter of fact," she confirmed. "Thanks to your distracting me I found the answer. And I feel much better."
"Well that's good," he smiled, still incredibly nervous. "Glad I could help. So I bet you're tired after going through all that. You should probably get some sleep. I mean, we all need our beauty rest. Some more than others. Not you, of course! I didn't mean it like that. But you know what they say!"
"What?" she asked, inwardly amused.
"What?" he parroted back.
"You said, 'you know what they say', so I'm asking what is it that they say?" she asked.
"Oh, er, I'm not sure," he anxiously scratched his neck. "I don't know why I said that."
"I've got it!" came the sound of Cyborg's booming voice as he rounded the corner and barreled down the hall. As soon as he saw Raven he just about tripped over his own feet before spinning around and jumping back around the corner.
"I'm obviously interrupting something," she said. "I guess I'll do as you suggested and turn in. We can talk about your little love note in the morning." She attempted to walk away but he grabbed her arm and made a strange, strangled noise.
"It wasn't a love note!" he all but shouted. "And it wasn't for you!"
"Hmm, then I guess I must have made a terrible mistake," she said, taking the note out of nowhere. "But, while I'm here, perhaps we can finish that game of Mad Libs we started? Only this time let's do it a little differently. I'll read it aloud and you can fill in the blanks I give you."
"Jesus, Raven, don't do this to me," he whined painfully.
"Well since it's not about me I don't see why you should be so against it," she said flatly. "Besides, I don't like to leave things unfinished." She cleared her throat. "She's sitting next to me. She's so 'adjective' yet 'adjective'."
The changeling looked as though his skin was crawling he was so uncomfortable. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"I need two adjectives, Garfield."
He ran a hand through his hair, turned his gaze towards the wall, then muttered, "dark yet bright."
"It doesn't make sense but I don't care. If only she could 'verb' at me as more than just a 'noun'."
"Look and friend."
"Maybe someday I'll be 'adjective' enough to 'verb' her how I feel."
"Strong and tell."
"I wonder what she'd 'verb' if I ever did."
"Say."
"Well, it's a shame this note isn't about me," she sighed, folding the note in half and handing it over to him. "Because if it was I'd be very flattered. The woman you intended this for is very lucky to have a man like you pining for her. I hope you tell her how you feel someday. Goodnight." And with that she turned and began to walk away.
"Alright already!" he surrendered. "You're so goddamn sadistic. I lied, okay? I wrote it about you. So please stop dragging this out, my heart's about to explode."
She smirked, spun on her heels, and walked back over to him. "For the record, I'm a fan of being straightforward. You should have told me how you felt months ago. If anyone was dragging things out it was you."
He looked at her, a bit startled. "You… You knew? About how I felt?"
"I'm an empath, Garfield, of course I knew," she replied plainly. "And if you ever get the courage to confess to me properly I just might give you a proper answer." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and went to move away again.
He was stunned by the kiss he'd just received but didn't give her any time to escape. He grabbed her by the shoulders and said, "Raven, I like you."
She smiled. "Thank you. I've been waiting for that for far too long." She then cleared her throat. "I accept your confession, Garfield."
"Oh. So… what does that mean?" he asked, confused.
"It means I like you too," she rolled her eyes then gave him a firm, proper kiss. Her suppressed desires that were no longer restrained along with her other emotions seemed to be bursting forth. Oh well, she deserved to enjoy a kiss. She released his lips and, blushing, said, "Understand?"
He tried to say, "Yes," but his voice was lost and only breath passed his lips. She did her best to suppress the smile bubbling within her so instead she gave him a hug. If that didn't cement the fact that she did hold affection for him nothing would. She didn't do physical contact let alone embracement and hugs so for her to initiate such an act should have been a clear indicator of her feelings. And it certainly worked. After about a moment of tensing up he just about collapsed with relief and happiness. "Oh my God, is this seriously happening?"
"Don't ruin the moment," she shushed him. They stayed like that for a moment or two before she pulled away and asked curious, "So what was it that you were so anxiously waiting for Victor to deliver to you?"
His bliss turned to horror. "Oh, er, not important. Let's bask in this moment."
He tried to kiss her but she leaned out of the way. "You're awfully guilty about whatever it is."
"No I'm not," he lied, shaking his head firmly.
A demure smile took her lips but her growing displeasure couldn't be hidden. "You know Garfield," she said softly, "a lie is a terrible way to start what could be a very promising relationship. And lying to me when I'm in such a good mood is incredibly unwise."
His heart was beating furiously and he almost looked like he wanted to cry. But he knew very well that he couldn't get out of this. He whined behind his lips, winced, then finally said, "Vic and I used that robotic tray we made earlier to sneak into your room to try and steal the love note back."
That certainly did kill the mood. She shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. "For someone who likes to take stupid risks it was like pulling teeth to get you to tell me how you feel."
"Well I didn't consider confessing to you a stupid risk," he admitted, bashfully. "Just a big risk that could ruin our friendship and eventually the team."
She couldn't help chuckling at that. "You are a very overdramatic person. But lucky for you I find your particular way of being overdramatic ever so slightly charming."
"You do?" he said, surprised and flattered.
She just smiled and went to give him one more peck on the lips. But stopped abruptly. "Wait a second."
"What's wrong?"
"If you sent Victor to get that note from my room and he came back saying he found it but I still have the note… what the hell did he find?"
A throat was cleared down the hall from someone they could not see. "Uh… it was the note we sent in with the tray of food. I saw it, though it was the right one, grabbed it, and ran." Both realized they'd been eavesdropped upon and grew bright red with embarrassment. Apparently around the corner was as far as Cyborg had fled. "So, um, congratulations!"
Raven hated to be embarrassed and she fumed with dark energy. "Victor, fill in the blanks. 'Noun's about to kick my 'noun'."
The End