I wonder if I'm the only one that's ever noticed this from the episodes sometimes... I must be crazy lol. Get cozy!

Like Fingerpaint

by: Her Head in the Clouds

November 8, 2011

And so was the life of the Teen Titans: protecting Jump City, defeating villains, saving the world, going out for pizza and sometimes… performing community service.

The five sometimes did odd little things. Cyborg once hosted an inner-city derby. Robin one time appeared at a charity event to help talk on behalf of Jump City's financial dry spell. Starfire once partook in the crowning of the city beauty pageant winner. Beast boy had handed out flyers with fellow animal rights activists at a protest on a big corporate company. Even Raven helped volunteer time in the downtown park, taking part in a two-hour theatre skit about troubled kids in bad neighborhoods (that she swore to never tell anyone!). They all gave back to the city in their own ways, and sometimes, aside from fighting the bad guys, they did it together.

Today was just another one of those special days.

"Cyborg! Cyborg! What does this button do?"

A seven-year-old boy pushed a blinking red light on Cyborg's shoulder and before he could yell, "No, wait kid! Don't-!", a piece of his robotic skull popped off. A little girl with curly pigtails jumped out of the way to catch the cover for his microchip in her small hands. "I got it, Mr. Cyborg!"

"Aww, thanks Suzie! Up top!" Cyborg cheered after he patted her on the shoulder. She jumped up with a huff to smack his palm while the other seven-year-old boy and his friend jumped on Cyborg's big round shoulders. They all laughed while some ways away in the other section of the children's corner, Beast Boy was holding two stuffed animals and acting out a children's story with Starfire floating above him with two more.

"…and then the huge dinosaur came out of now and tried to take Mr. Giraffe! But the dog said 'No!' and the pig swooped in…!" Which was Starfire's queue to fly down the pig to the giraffe Beast Boy was holding and lifted them both several feet off the ground. She giggled quietly as the children in front of them started cooing and awe-ing. Beast Boy continued.

"…and helped Mr. Giraffe escape, while the dog ran away and was rescued by Miss Monkey!" Then Starfire came back with the furry monkey toy and let Beast Boy hop the dog on its back before she made 'wooshing' sounds with her mouth and flew to a nearby shelf to put all the toys on. The kids cheered and clapped while Beast Boy bowed and Starfire came back to join him. Meanwhile in another corner, much quieter, Robin was sitting on a small green, plastic chair as he held a storybook on his lap, showing the kids of his circle the pages as he read the story aloud. Raven, who didn't want to be alone with any loud kids, sat quietly next to him in a yellow plastic chair, listening as he read aloud.

"…and when the ugly duckling looked into the pond to see his reflection, he saw that he wasn't ugly anymore. Instead…!" he paused to turn the page and when he did, several of the quiet kids, gasped and sat up in their spots on the carpet to stare at the picture. Raven had to lean out to see what they were seeing. She smiled slightly.

"…he was a beautiful swan. The ugly duckling had grown up to be a beautiful white swan and every colour of the rainbow shone brightly in the water on his wings! His brothers and sisters were jealous but they were happy to know that he was happy. And the ugly duckling was happy knowing that even if he wasn't beautiful, he was still happy on the inside." When it was over and Robin closed the storybook, they clapped and some of the little girls sighed.

"So," Robin said with a warm smile. "What did you learn?"

One boy raised her hand and said, "That ducks are ugly and swans are pretty." But the girl beside him nudged him in the ribs and retorted, "No, dummy! That's not right!" Raven rolled her eyes as she smirked. Typical. Another girl raised her hand and said softly, "That, we're all beautiful no matter what and we should never let people say bad things to hurt us." Robin nodded his head.

"Pretty much, yeah," he agreed. He could've gone into a deeper conversation about the long-stretched theory behind the Ugly Little Duckling, but remembered that most of the kids weren't even eight-years-old so the meaning had to be simplified. With a satisfied nod, Raven nodded her head.

"Nice work, Boy Blunder," she said plainly as she went to get up from her tiny chair. "I'm gonna go see what Cyborg's up to-!"

"Wainbo."

Raven stopped mid-motion and looked at the kids with wide eyes and a raised eyebrow. "What?" Robin tried to help her and pointed at the toddler sitting in one of the older girl's lap. He was probably about three and didn't have all his teeth. He pointed a tiny finger at Raven again.

"Wainbo," he said again. Raven looked at Robin for extra help but his mouth agape and his eyes squinted behind his mask. "I'm… not sure what he means." The other kids eyed the toddler curiously, scrunching their faces too, trying to understand what he meant. Raven just wanted to leave but she sat curiously waiting.

"Ohh, I think I know what he means!" said the little girl who was holding him. She had a big smile on her face as everyone around the circle waited for her answer. She readjusted him in her hold as she spoke.

"I think he meant... you two are a rainbow."

Robin pulled back his head and stared at Raven while she looked at him with a confused look. They still didn't get it. Until another, younger boy in the circle perked up.

"Oh yeaaahh! Freddie thinks you two make a rainbow cuz you're dressed all funny!" When the other kids looked at Robin and Raven again, they realized and laughed. Robin laughed too but Raven rolled her eyes.

"Really now?" she asked more to herself than anyone but the little girl still holding Freddie nodded her head as she pointed a finger at them. "Mhm, look! Red… yellow… green, blue!"

Raven looked again between her and Robin and sighed.

Leave it to kids to notice (and like) how preschooler the primary colours between her and her leader were: him with his 'fire truck' red tunic, 'sunshine' yellow belt, and 'leafy' green spandex. And her, with her 'finger paint' blue cloak. But she smiled anyway, even after she looked up again and found Robin smiling warmly at her, and decided to sit by him for a couple more minutes.

Now all they needed was Starfire's orange skin and Beast Boy's Doom Patrol purple uniform and they'd be a walking spectrum.

Well, she could always just put down her hood and add another colour for the kids… but what did that leave Cyborg with?

Strange idea huh? Haha, leave a review. :)