Burn Her Anyway
Note from the author: just thought Raven from Teen Titans and Klarion the Witch Boy who has been in a few episodes of Young Justice HAD to meet. So here it is, not sure where it's going or if it's going at all, and for those reading my other stories wondering when there will be updates, patience my friends, read on!
"A witch! A witch burn her!" the dialog was overpowered by Klarion Bleak's uproarious laughter.
On the sprawling couch, he was sitting with his curled legs to his chest like a child while watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Raven shifted uncomfortably next to him, her arms crossed over her chest, cape's hood down. Behind them slept Teek'l, Klarion's cat and familiar, on the back of the couch. There was no humor to be had in the movie just now, and yet, he was almost in tears with his howls of laughter, howls being the key word. Though Raven was often teased and sometimes even feared for her eerie demeanor, she found herself terribly outmatched by the witch boy. Even she was able to tell he was laughing at things that were not intended to be funny. When the King Arthur and the knights had run clapping coconuts in place of horses he had a blank look upon his face. Maybe he didn't know what coconuts were or maybe he was a:
"Freak." muttered Raven.
Klarion ignored her or perhaps did not hear her above his laughter. The woman, the accused witch was being drawn off to be burned at the stake, hung, drowned, whatever. Klarion laughed and laughed, struggling to breathe. Raven supposed she should be glad his attentions were on the television. After all, she, out of all the Titans had been elected babysitter/guard of their prospective new teammate/prisoner. She, the most inept with conversation and social interactions, left to watch him. Why such a choice was made she did not know. Though considering the others, maybe she was the only choice. Robin (or was it Nightwing now?) was too busy, Starfire too precious, Beastboy too likely to cause trouble paired with him, and Cyborg too easily annoyed by Klarion. Logic aside, Raven carried the sneaking suspicion she had merely been selected because she too was a freak. Eyeing her ward from the side, she felt the slightest pang that she was on the same level as this horn-haired, blue-skinned boy. While her team was away deliberating Klarion's potential for good, Raven stayed with the witch boy to ensure no disasters or explosions took place, lovely.
"HA!" laughed Klarion one final time, finally breathing normally.
The movie had long since moved on from the witch scene, and Klarion had undoubtedly missed all the developments in plot, but his eyes remained wide and black, reflecting the television's light in the dimmed room. Raven decided she should enjoy his captivated distraction now, for when left listless he would turn to her for entertainment.
"You're bored?" she said to his complaint, "Go play a game or something.
Unwise words, very unwise indeed. Raven was no entertainer, and when she thought of games, her thoughts only included the ones Beastboy and Cyborg played almost endlessly in their free time on their video console. Games to Klarion the Witch Boy were defined in an entirely different sense. When he wandered to the couch, Raven sighed with relief and took up reading an aged book from her collection. Reading and sitting on a stool in the Titan Tower's kitchen, Raven did not notice how quiet the place was, stupid, so stupid. Engrossed in her book, the sound of wet slapping across the floor drew her reluctant eyes from the pages. What she saw made her eyes double in size. A fish, dead as a doornail, danced toward her. Its lifeless body tapped its tailfin like a rag doll's legs with a flapping sound. A yelp unbefitting of Raven's apathy escaped before she could restrain herself. She fell from her stool with a thump. Klarion's laughs took hold of the room and the fish dropped with a resounding slap. Teek'l jumped to the counter to the floor, seizing an open opportunity for an early dinner.
"Got you!" he teased.
Damn necromancy. Pride damaged, Raven fought the urge to lift that fish (from the Titan's fridge no doubt) with her dark powers and shove it down his throat. There was no time for lashing out. She had to remain calm; she could not lash out, not yet. Sighing, she drew in her anger impressively.
"I think we should watch a movie." she said.
It had been Beastboy's choice to pick a movie last, and being too cautious to leave Klarion to his own devices, the only movie near it was. Now Klarion remains silent, his eyes watching the screen with nihility it seems. When the movie finishes, Raven removes the disc with a wave of her hand, cutting the credits short. It is dark out and the others should be home soon with the final decision on the witch boy's fate. A devious and familiar smile on his face, the spell of cinema magic had broken. No matter how soon the others were to return, it would not be swift enough for Raven's liking.
"The magic of the Blue Rafters is so strange!" he laughs.
Raven is silent for a moment, unsure what he means.
"Do you trap criminals in these prisons too?" he asked, holding up the disc to the lights, now on.
What he is asking finally hits Raven, and despite her more controlled self she laughs, and feels something . . . maternal? No, but a foreign feeling breezes through, only to be cut short with her laughter as Klarion snaps the disc between his thumb and pointer finger.
"That was a rental..." she hisses.
Even though Klarion has no idea what she means by the word "rental", even he can tell a seething Raven is dangerous. It was the first time that night they both found themselves wishing for the immediate return of the rest of the Teen Titans.