Ahaunting We Will Go
By Magus732
"Friends, have you noticed that recently, our home is not quite as 'homey' as usual?" Starfire asked curiously as Cyborg and Beast Boy sat on the couch, enthralled by their video game. Robin lifted his head up from breakfast to turn his attention to the princess addressing them.
"What do you mean, Star?" As Robin helped himself to the "bacon" Beast Boy had made for them, Raven decided to join the waking world. Sort of.
"I have heard many strange noises at night, when everyone else is asleep-"
"Starfire, most likely, you're hearing Cyborg and Beast Boy snoring." Raven interrupted sleepily, groaning as her head hit the kitchen table loudly.
"Raven, you okay?" The Boy Wonder queried, receiving only a soft groan as a reply, followed by a light snoring. Beast Boy and Cyborg looked up from the TV screen to see what was going on, pausing their game as they peeked up over the back of the couch.
"Maybe she got home late. All that hardcore partying." The shapeshifter suggested jokingly.
"Um, Raven?" Robin grabbed the sorceress' shoulder lightly. Her response was to leap up from the table, screaming;
"It wasn't me! I didn't do it!"
"Uh, dude? You were asleep."
"Thank you for that sobering dose of reality, Beast Boy. Now get out of my room." Her head slammed back down on the tabletop.
"Uh, Raven..." Cyborg began, before Robin finished his thought.
"You're in the living room." Her eyes shot open. She looked down, making sure she was dressed.
"Good." She stated blandly. "The last thing I need right now, or ever, is to be naked and sleepwalking." She thought to herself.
"Raven, you okay? You haven't been yourself lately." Robin asked in his usual, fatherly way.
"Yes, you have been most social and... I must admit, Friend Raven, it is giving me the freaks."
"I think you mean 'freaking me out.'" Cyborg suggested helpfully, receiving an unseen glare from Robin.
"I think she means 'giving me the creeps.'" Robin suggested, somewhat annoyed by the teen's bluntness.
"Well, whatever! Dude, you rocked that dance contest the other night! That was totally not like you." Beast Boy jumped over the couch to land next to her. She rolled her eyes, yawned, and sat back down at the table.
"I'm just... living a little. With Trigon no longer an issue, I'm free to... try new things. Meet people."
"I know, it's just... kinda weird." Cyborg admitted hesitantly, sweatdropping when she turned to glare at him.
"Look, I just... I need to meditate." She turned to leave, but Beast Boy got in her way.
"Oh, no! You're not gonna pull that 'dark and mysterious' stuff again, Rae. We know all about your little problem with rabid meta-rhetorical bescidications."
"That's random metaphysical prestidigitations, Beast Boy. And stop calling me 'Rae'. I... I don't like it." She brushed past him, head covered by her hood as she walked away from the other Titans.
"Why not, Friend Raven? Has Beast Boy insulted you with his name of nicks?"
"No, Starfire, his nickname for me isn't the problem. It's that he keeps using it after I ask him not to. That's the problem." Raven replied curtly, anger slowly rising beneath the surface. Despite the signs of an impending meltdown – clenched fists, light panting, growling under her breath – Beast Boy wouldn't let up, well, trying to help.
"Aww, c'mon, Raven. We just wanna help. I mean, you're so closed off, you may as well be in prison! You never let anybody inside-" She suddenly turned around and grabbed the changeling by his collar.
"Maybe it's because whenever I need time alone, little green idiots try to get inside my mind and screw things up!!!" She shoved him away, hearing his "oof" as he hit the floor bottom-first. Surprisingly, her shove wasn't very strong, and Beast Boy blinked in amazement that he hadn't been sent flying across the room. The group watched her retreating form disappear behind the door, dumbstruck by her restraint.
Some time later, in Raven's room...
"Very beautiful performance, Rae. I've never known you to be so... controlling... of your anger." A mysterious voice spoke to her through the darkness of her room, the dim light of her candles notwithstanding.
"What? Who's there?" She opened her eyes and flicked on the light, but saw nothing.
"Beast Boy, I told you; leave me alone!" She pulled her hood up, scanned the room for intruders, and when no one appeared in her view, she was satisfied that she had imagined the voice. She closed her eyes and resumed meditating on her bed. Then, few moments later, a male voice whispered softly in her ear;
"Hello again, Raven."
