Author's Note: This fic's a clichéd and overdone story but I just wanted to try it and get in some descriptive writing practice before my 'O' level English Exam on Monday (though I don't stick to the conventions and use colloquial language). Not much BBRae romance here. Largely Raven-centric. I hope that you'll review if there are areas for improvement! Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans series or the iPhone, Blackberry, Samsung, OCBC, Microsoft and Walmart trademarks.
Hello Again
Tip, tap, Raven's fingers drummed the wooden surface of the counter impatiently. One full hour had passed since she had arrived at the shop to collect the printer she had ordered. Distractedly, Raven's eyes drifted to the surface of the counter. It had definitely seen better days. The wear, the tear, it was almost painful to look at. Whoever the owner of the shop was, he clearly neglected to take care of his belongings. However, Raven was too busy to concern herself with such trivialities. She was going to be late for her appointment with her client and she still had not collected her printer. Where was that shopkeeper?
Absentmindedly, Raven reached for her mobile phone. It was quite old and it had none of the latest touch screen technology. However, it was fully functional and served its purpose. Raven hated touch screens. They were too troublesome to use and the virtual keyboard had keys that were far too small for her fat fingers. Also, she simply refused to give into the hype of the iPhone 20 (Was it 20 already?), the Blackberry Boldest (Great alliteration.) or the Samsung Milky Way (What a stupid name.).
She dialed Jinx's number (Speed Dial number 6).
"Raven? Aren't you supposed to be with Mr. Jordan?"
"I'm still at the electronics store. The salesguy has been a no show for the past hour."
"Calm down, Rave."
"Don't call me-"
"Oh shut up, Raven. I'll call you whatever I feel like calling you. Need me to cover you for the meeting, I suppose."
"Yeah. And try not to hex another client."
"Try not to go Trigon on the salesdude."
"Fuck yo-"
Disconnect tone.
Jinx could be such a bitch, sometimes. However, they were all each other had. After the Titans split up after a bitter quarrel, everyone lost contact with each other. They mostly broke up into pairs or small groups. Raven and Jinx had found an apartment together and become best friends despite their differences in character, Raven recalled as she drew circles on the countertop with her Titanium credit card. Despite the inferior benefits, she chose it for obvious reasons.
For the first time in years, Raven thought about her friends. She missed them more than she cared to admit. They had been there for her in the best and worst of times, through thick and thin. She especially longed to see the green one again. The first month after they separated, Raven ended up borrowing joke books from the library, just to have her daily dose of humour back. However, those jokes were just too good for her taste. She had grown to like unpolished jokes better. They always seemed so much more sincere.
Another 15 minutes had flown by. At least 150 times the call bell had rung. Exactly 15 worry-free birthdays had come and gone. 15 secret kisses had been stolen in closets. 150 heartfelt hugs had been exchanged (when no one was looking). 1500 days had been spent trying to forget, trying to heal, trying to stop herself from wondering if he was wondering too.
Raven sighed. What was it about this place that made her feel this way? It was just a cluttered, untidy, old, dusty, dark shop painted in blue! Her fist landed on the countertop in frustration. She sucked in breath after breath of air, calming herself down before she broke something unintentionally and had to pay for it.
1 hour and 30 minutes had passed. It was clear the shop owner was either dead or did not care. Just in case it was the latter, Raven took out her name card. "Raven Roth, Property Agent, Kent Real Estate", it read. On the back, she wrote neatly, in cursive script, "Please contact me about the printer that I ordered 2 days ago (22 October) at about 5 pm which I was supposed to collect today so I can arrange for a different collection date." It would not do well to anger the shop owner since he might cancel her order. This was the nearest electronics store to her office and the next one was 10 miles away. Plus, the owner of the other one was an infamous pervert (were all electronics store owners jerks?).
After touching up her make-up quickly, Raven began to slip her card under the call bell when a flash of green blinded her, unexpectedly.
"Wuh, uh, need something?"
Raven's eyes grew to the size of saucers.
"BEAST BOY?" She shouted, rather than asked.
"Wha- uh, huh? Uh am I late for school?" Beast Boy slurred drowsily, only just removing the earplugs from his elf-like ears.
Raven nearly facepalmed.
"I would like to collect my printer now," She stated calmly, suppressing the smirk that was quickly forming on her face.
"Right and the order is under?" Beast Boy replied, still rubbing his eyes.
"Raven Roth."
"Raven Roth… Raven Roth…" Beast Boy scanned the list of orders in the Excel file saved in his computer for her name.
Evidently, he was not having much success finding it for he decided to make small talk.
"Uh, so your name sounds familiar, do I know you from somewhere?" He asked, not really caring but trying to buy himself some time as he scrolled up and down the list of orders.
"Hmm… I'm not sure if you remember me, since we haven't seen each other in a while. You were a Teen Titan, weren't you?"
"Yeah, yeah! I was Beast Boy, ultimate comedian of the Teen Titans! I singlehandedly, with some help from my team, defeated Cinderblock! Plasmus! Overload! Mad Mod! Control Freak! Mumbo!"
"Wow, that is impressive, though I'm quite sure Mumbo was all me."
"RAVEN!"
"Yes, Beast Boy. It's me. Congratulations, you win a brand new printer."
"I never thought I'd see you again, and now you're all businesslike and I sell electronics and we're all grown-up and not Titans but you're still Raven and you smell so good and I get your sarcasm and it's so awesome!" He blubbered incoherently.
Raven raised an eyebrow in response, though she was secretly flattered at the enthusiasm.
"Oh my god, Imma give you the best printer there is!"
Abandoning his precious Excel file, he dashed to the indiscernible storage room, almost tripping over a stack of Gamestation games that were on special offer.
Moments later, Beast Boy reappeared with a huge box containing the latest printer from Japan. It came with a free 20-year warranty, vouchers for Walmart and a signed Beast Boy poster. Typical.
"I'll pass on the poster," Raven stated in her trademark monotone, "but thanks for the kind offer and the one and a half hour wait."
Blushing madly, Beast Boy made a mental note to stop using earplugs when sleeping in the backroom, in case something like this ever happened again. If not for his keen sense of smell and the earthy scent of Raven's makeup…
"Dinner?" Raven interrupted his train of thought.
Without hesitation, Beast Boy morphed into an octopus, grabbed his keys, the printer and Raven, by the waist, sprang out of the store, locked up and morphed back into an eagerly nodding Beast Boy in less than 3 seconds. Moments later, the two long lost friends found themselves in Raven's midsized car (because Beast Boy's obsession with mopeds would never die), phone numbers exchanged, on their way to the new pizza place with renewed hope for the future and a printer that smelled like Beast Boy's old, and possibly new, room.
