This takes place directly after the episode whose title I'm punning ("Deep Six"); I apologize for the clumsy exposition, but I'm working from a script by Marv Wolfman. Bear with me. It gets better. Cross my heart and hope to fucking die.
Obviously this is going to be rated for adults as there is to be much sex in it.
Read it at your own discretion. Enjoy.
The sun shone unimpeded from a cloudless sky, burning through the early morning fog that always blanketed the Titans isle in the bay of Jump City. The three male Titans stood among the rocks that crusted the ground near the shore.
Robin turned to Aqualad, "Consider yourself an honorary Titan."
Raven and Starfire appeared in an instant, thoroughly lovestruck.
Ignoring them, he handed Aqualad a communicator. It was the standard: disc-shaped, yellow bordered, with a large white T pasted in the center. Aqualad accepts it, calm; the girls nearly topple him over to get a view of it.
"We couldn't have done it without you."
Aqualad grinned, "Right back at you. It's good to know there's people up here I can trust.
At the sudden sound of Tramm shouting "boo-yah," he turned to face the girls.
"Bye Raven. Starfire."
Raven managed a flustered response, "It was nice to meet you."
"Oh, very, very, very nice!" Starfire squealed, leaning hard enough against him to push him.
He wound up next to Beast Boy. He smiled
"What can I say, dude? You're the best."
"Nah. You're the best."
"Yeah. You're right," Beast Boy stretched, "And if you ever want me to prove it, I'm always up for a race."
"Just try to keep up." Aqualad patted his head a few times.
The two, once rivals, then reluctant partners, now fast friends took off in a sprint, heading for the nearest edge.
It's close; they're shoulder to shoulder and both grinning broadly.
They are a few feet from the shore. Beast Boy's smaller gait is working against him, he's exerting twice as hard to keep abreast. He may be best suited to land, but Aqualad is larger, stronger. He is also faster. The edge comes: they leap.
Aqualad claps his hands together, a spear point above his head. He points his toes. The wind waves his hair.
Beast Boy morphs after launching himself. It's not much, but it slows him down for half a second. When a shape takes form it's recognizable: a green dolphin.
They penetrate the surface of the water, pulling bubbles behind them. Aqualad sweeps his arms behind him, forcing himself further below the surface. Beast Boy isn't far behind; he kicks his tail as soon as he's submerged. It puts him a few meters ahead.
He turns his head as much as the lack of a neck lets him, calling, where are we going?
Aqualad is swimming still: legs kicking, arms moving in huge strokes.
He responds: We'll meet at my place.
Beast Boy lets himself lag, saving strength for when the location is known.
Where is it?
Use your sonar.
Beast Boy lets loose a series of rapid clicks, moving, not waiting for the ghostly gray images to return to him to process. It's to be expected: a few jagged fingers of rock thrusting towards the surface, seaweed undulating, buffeted by the unseen currents. Schools of fish moving in unison. Predators on patrol.
Did you see that?
Beast Boy echolocates again. The rocks have drawn nearer, what was nothing more than a series of edged shadows has resolved itself into something distinct.
See that now? Aqualad asks without asking again.
I thinks so.
The Atlantean is still a few meters ahead of him, we'll swim through the gap in the rocks. Careful that you don't get caught in the weeds. They're pretty thick at the bottom. Turn left there, and swim as hard as you can. You'll see a few buildings carved out of the rocks. That's where I live.
Is there a door?
Of course.
Beast Boy sighed, Do you mind telling me where it is?
He thought he could detect a hint of mirth in Aqualad's 'voice:' trust me, you can't miss it.
Before he had finished speaking, Beast Boy was off. His fin stirred the water with delphine intensity. Fluttered left and right, propelling him forward.
He sent out a few more clicks. Somehow, Aqualad was keeping pace with him. It was impossible. He'd never been trying harder to win, but there was the boy, matching him stroke for stroke with insouciant ease. He couldn't be sure, but he could swear that Aqualad was smirking. That little...
The gap was approaching. Less than a second before the echoes came back to him and illuminated with sound. He could see the kelp swept back and forth. This wasn't fair. Aqualad knew his way around the ocean better than he did. He'd been this way before, but he had no recollection of it's geography, but he'd rather eat Starfire's cooking than admit that he was lost or confused.
They threaded the gap abreast, nearly colliding at the narrowest point. Beast Boy had to defer to Aqualad in order to get through.
He sent out another round of clicks, hoping that the sound might distract him. It did nothing but return a picture of a boy in peak physical condition. He could every muscle pulling as it should. Biceps and forearms moving cupped hands. Powerful legs alternating the up and down strokes. The roll of his buttocks at both.
Aqualad pressed on with practiced efficiency. Each motion worked in tandem with the others, motivating him forward at an almost impossible pace. It was maddening. There was no competition here.
They burst from the gap; their wakes pull the kelp after them for a few brief seconds. A hard left turn. It was foregone that Beast Boy would be doing little more than following until their destination was in sight.
They swam. The shelf dropped out of sight, fading into the dire darkness of the lowest fathoms. Beast Boy tried sending his sonar down that way, but his vision remained unchanged. He hoped they wouldn't have to take a detour down there. Something implacable scared him about it.
They swam. Passing schools of fish. Sharks circling endlessly. Where were they? He was starting to get worried. He'd had to surface several times and more than once had come close to losing Aqualad in the process. Did that boy have gills or what?
Still, they swam.
Are we almost there yet?
The humor in his tone was unmistakable, just about. Getting tired?
Beast Boy's response was a resurgence of desire: his tail and flippers pushing him ahead of Aqualad for a few seconds before he easily passed him once again.
Another wave of sonar. There was...something there. It was vague, obscure.
Aqualad was still headed in that direction, so he took that as a cue and pushed himself as hard as he could.
He streaked forward, curving around the other boy for a moment before getting in front of him and agitating the saltwater in front of him in a second vain attempt to blind him.
Almost there. He kept pushing. His tail and flippers burned. The water was starting to sting his eyes. His lungs were starting to feel heavy. He'd have to surface very soon, but doing so would sacrifice his meager lead. He'd wait it out if he had to. Just a little bit further.
Another round. The details emerged: he could see structures carved from the rock. Windows. Spires. A pattern that suggested apartments. A large door opening as a horizontal shaft expanded slowly.
There it is.
One last heave. He didn't dare look to his sides. He knew that Aqualad was right there; he could sense it. Now, the air didn't matter: the best he could hope for was a close second.
He swam for it. The door yawned before him. He trailed Aqualad. They both swam upwards, finally breaking the surface of the water. Beast Boy gasped, his mouth opening wide enough to admit to put both fists in there. He inhaled loudly, comically, and started to pull himself out. He lay on his back, a hand on his chest; breathing heavy. Aqualad was leaning against a wall, arms crossed, a lop-sided grin on his face. His hair was wet and dripping. The water ran down his chest and arms. Dripped from tendrils of hair that clung to his back and shoulders. Slid off of his legs and pooled at his feet.
He waited until Beast Boy looked more green, and strolled over to him when he could sit up.
"You all right?"
Beast forced himself upright, "I'm fine. You just had an unfair advantage is all."
"We could race back now."
Beast Boy tried to laugh and rubbed the back of his head. His cheeks were flushed, and he was still shaky. His breathing was nearing regular. He sat down again.
"Actually, I'm kinda hungry."
Aqualad knelt beside him, "You know, I am too." he offered a hand, "Wanna go to the kitchen?"
No sooner had he asked that, then he was staring a Beast Boy shaped puff of smoke that was rapidly dissipating.
The place had been built out of a large column of rock that rose from the bottom of the ocean. It had been assumed that this was once a dormant volcano, but further exploration had revealed it to be solid all the way through. It was massive. The Atlanteans had hollowed it out, amplified certain features and adapted them to use.
They talked in the kitchen while preparing the meal. Beast Boy asked a lot of questions.
"What is this place?" was the first one.
Aqualad sighed, "This was once a way station between the two greatest cities. Many of our best minds stayed here at one time or another. We had an extraordinary library here, but when Trident attacked, that part of it was destroyed."
Beast Boy recalled seeing many unlit corridors. The sound of water dropping onto the stone floor, into shallow, stagnant puddles.
They had passed many rooms, the doors firmly and sensibly shut, locked, barred from the outside to prevent something from getting in. They had taken the most direct route to the kitchen, so Beast Boy had a chance to glimpse only a small portion of the ruins that surrounded them. This had been a great place. That much was evident. The stone had been carved and sculpted into mosaics, elaborate pictures in homage of the Atlanteans' mastery of the craft.
Beast Boy was rummaging through the fridge, picking out the vegetables that were still good.
"So, how do you get food down here? I kinda figured you'd eat lots of fish."
Aqualad Blanched, "Oh gross. I got tired of that a while ago. We actually set up a garden using sunlamps to cultivate the plants. It's not too good, but it's home grown. If we ever need anything else, we find a way to get it."
"Oh," he felt stupid for not figuring that one out
Silence, then: "So you live here."
"Well, yeah."
Beast Boy slapped his forehead with the butt of his palm, "No, I mean, yes, you live here, but how do you live here?"
Aqualad laughed, "Well, when you put it that way," he flashed a grin, "The powercells are still working. They're more towards the center where the walls are the thickest. Trident wasn't able to damage them. I use it to keep my room powered. Tramm uses it to help him with his work. We get by."
"Yeah, you seem to be doing all right."
"It's a life."
They ate, quiet for a few moments.
Beast Boy swallowed, "So when is Tramm going to get back?"
"Whenever he feels like it. We actually haven't had all that much to do lately, so we've been taking it easy. He deserves it."
"We have the place all to ourselves."
Aqualad nodded and took another bite. He swallowed and said, "So what do you want to do?"
Beast Boy raised an eyebrow conspiratorially, "Got any video games in this place?"
Aqualad smiled, a smile that said he knew more than he would say, "Maybe a few. Wanna seem 'em?"
"Yeah!"
Aqualad tossed back the last several bites with all haste. "C'mon," he beckoned with one hand, standing on the threshold of a dim hallway, "This way."
Beast Boy followed.
His mouth was on the floor. His tongue had unfurled, uncoiled like a piece of parchment across the stone floor.
'Maybe a few' was an understatement: he'd never seen anything like it. The TV was gargantuan. One entire wall of a sitting room. It was the largest he'd ever seen. The room had one of every console released, and a few he didn't recognize. There were stacks of cartridges and CD jewel cases laying around. Some of the without labels. Some of the piles had collected dust through years of misuse. The ones played most often were set aside in neat piles at the sides of the systems.
Beast Boy could only stare in disbelief.
Aqualad came up behind and put a hand on his shoulder, "You like it?"
"Yes," was all he could manage.
"What do you wanna play?"
He shook his head, regained his senses and composure. "How about a racing game?"
Aqualad rubbed his hands together, "Sounds good to me. Got any favorites?"
"Lots."
He gestured at the room, "Pick one."
Beast Boy turned his communicator off, "Let's do this thing."
They played for hours. Grand prix racing, battle racing, one-on-one, racing against the computer, playing against other people on-line (he found out that the place was wired with most technology imaginable to humans and quite a bit that wasn't). They stopped only to take bathroom breaks or to refill soda or water. By the time he realized how long they'd been playing, he was shivering from a combination of the caffeine and sitting in one position so long. Though it was beginning to affect him. He was losing more when previously it had been pretty much evenly matched. The only truly horrendous defeated he took was when Aqualad had asked him if he wanted to play one of the original Atlantis games. He'd leapt at the chance, but regretted it almost instantly. The interface involved not so much a mask and helmet as much as a headband with suckers and diodes. It was totally immersive.
But he hadn't been able to decipher the rules. The walls and tracks seemed to shift at random intervals. The power-ups seemed useless. It was maddening; he kept dying. After three rounds he grudgingly conceded that Aqualad was the better player than he was. To make it up, Aqualad offered to take a handicap in whatever game they played next. Beast Boy refused: it was all or nothing. If he lost, it would be because Aqualad had gotten lucky. If he won it was obvious that he was the skilled player.
At long last his fingers and thumbs starting cramping and it cost him a match for the title of Supreme Undefeated Grand Champion of the Known Universe.
That seemed to be a ready cue.
He stood up and bent down to touch his toes. His spine popped and protested in several places.
"Crap. What time is it?"
A glance at one of the many clocks told them it was nearing 8. That meant it would be dark out. Beast Boy didn't want to make an unknown swim home in the dark regardless of company.
He reactivated his communicator; there were close to a half dozen messages waiting for him. All from Robin. All asking him what was going on. Tramm had decided to stay overnight to help Cy complete a project. Was he coming back or staying with Aqualad? Could he get back to them as soon as possible?
Beast Boy turned to Aqualad, "Dude, uh, do you mind if I stay here tonight?"
Aqualad waved a hand in dismissal, "It's not a problem. You can have my bed; I'll take one of the couches."
"No, it's ok. I'm cool."
"You sure?
"Yeah, I'm good. I can sleep anywhere."
Aqualad laughed, "You sound like me. How does pizza sound for dinner?"
"Pizza sounds great s'long as it's vegetarian."
"I can deal with that."
After they ate dinner, they went back to video games, playing late (or early depending on how one looks at it) into the night. Eventually they both fell asleep in front of the TV.
When he woke up, it was off. The controllers had their cords wrapped around their bases. Aqualad must have done it last night or earlier this morning. He yawned. He could smell breakfast. Eggs and something else. It smelled good. Very good.
He rubbed his eyes. It was 11 already. He yawned again and made his way to the small kitchen that was in an alcove off to one side.
Aqualad was naked to the waist. His hair was wet. He must have just taken a shower. The stove was on and there were several pots belching steam here and there when the force was enough to dislodge the lids.
"Morning."
"Morning dude, whatcha making?"
"Nothing much. You eat eggs right?"
"Yeah. I'm not vegan. I love chocolate milk too much to give that up."
"Right. I'll just stick with cool, refreshing water." he shuffled the eggs around the pan. They sizzled, "What do you want in your eggs?"
"Olives and green peppers."
"You got it."
Aqualad gripped a spatula with one hand, keeping the eggs moving, and reached into the refrigerator with the other, pulling open the door and retrieving a large round pan that had different types of vegetables in different compartments.
"Black olives or green?"
"Black, please."
"Right."
Aqualad picked them up with the tips of his fingers and sprinkled them, both the olives and the pepper, in.
After two more minutes, his eggs were ready. He dumped them onto a plate already covered with toast, a small bowl of cereal (no milk), and an orange.
Beast Boy took it when it was offered, "You mind if I eat out there?"
"Only if you don't mind if I join you."
"Still feeling lucky?"
He pointed the egg-flecked spatula at him, "No. I'm still good."
"If you say so," Beast Boy took a whiff of the steam wafting off of the food. It smelled very good. His stomach growled and he realized he hadn't eaten since early the previous evening. He went back to the living room (he thought of it as the game room) and sat down at his spot, putting the food on the floor beside him.
He turned back; Aqualad was still there. The way the light hit his back made the motion of his body that much clearer. The large muscles of his back when he turned to check on something else. He was slender, but not scrawny. He had a swimmer's body. That musculature had been put to good use over the years. As nice as his own body was, it couldn't touch that.
He speared some eggs with a fork, eating slowly; watching Aqualad cook his own breakfast. He could see him sprinkling ham into the eggs as well as preparing more toast and water instead of milk along with orange juice.
A few minutes more and he exited the kitchen carrying a large tray. It had his own plate along with several pitchers: water, milk, and orange juice, more toast and fruit, some mints, and napkins.
He sat down near Beast Boy, setting the tray between them.
"Just out of curiosity, what's in the other pots?"
"Just dinner and lunch for today. Will you be staying?"
"I don't know. I haven't taken a shower in a while. I feel kinda gross."
"You're welcome to use mine."
"Thanks, dude, but I don't have any spare clothes."
"Oh," he sounded abashed, "Right. Sorry."
"Unless you can do laundry in about half an hour."
"Ten minutes actually."
"Wow. That's fast."
"Mmm hmm," was his reply through a closed and chewing mouth.
They continued eating. Both of them reached for the last remaining piece of toast. Their hands touched. The sides of their fingers. Their hands were yanked back quick.
Beast Boy cleared his throat, "You can have it."
"No, it's ok. You need all the muscle you can get if you hope to beat me anytime soon."
"Empty carbs? I'll pass."
The toast sat there; neither of them made a second attempt for it. They both finished quickly.
Beast Boy grabbed a napkin, cleaning the grease and crumbs from his fingers, "So, ready to play again?"
Aqualad nodded at him and stuffed the last piece of toast into his mouth while grabbing for the the first player controller.
Later that evening, Beast Boy decided to shower. By the time he arrived at that decision, it was too dark to return home, so he had to stay another night. He called to inform Robin of the situation. While not pleased, there wasn't anything currently menacing the citizenry of Jump City, so it was excusable provided he returned the next day.