It finally happened, I broke down and wrote a story about a Titan having a cold...it has nothing to do with me having a cold, what're you talking about? Okay it totally does.
Just for clarification, Starfire does have a brother, he was in the Teen Titans Go comic book, in it his name is Wildfire however an earlier incarnation of him in another Teen Titans comic book had the name Darkfire. Teen Titans history lesson of the day kiddos!
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. Just my OC and her mentioned family.
It was a peaceful day in Jump City, Robin had recently made a trip to Gotham City to visit Batman and wouldn't be returning till the end of the week. Cyborg was in Steel City making a visit to the Titans East, that of course just left Raven, Starfire, Nix, and Beast Boy alone in the tower. Best thing about it was no Robin meant no early morning training sessions, and no Cyborg? Well that meant that Beast Boy was in charge which also meant the titans could wander around in their pajamas whenever they wanted, but details details.
Raven had gotten up at sunrise for some early morning meditation, around 8 she was joined in the kitchen by Starfire and the two of them chatted over herbal tea until 10 when Nix sauntered into the common room half asleep, she tripped over her own two feet and ended up falling face first over the couch. "Ow..."
Raven had to stifle a giggle as Starfire gasped at the scene that had just occurred. "Friend Nix are you ok?"
Nix pushed herself into a somersault in a lazy attempt to get over the couch. "I'm fine" She said as she stood up. "And wide awake now, Raven do you have anymore-"
Raven pointed to a third cup of tea on the counter. "We made a cup for you just in case."
Nix smiled as she walked over to the others and picked up her mug. "So where's BB?"
"Still asleep probably." Raven said as she looked at the clock. "Yeah it's like 10:05, he's still asleep."
"With boyfriend Robin in Gotham there is no morning training, friend Beast Boy must be taking this as an opportunity to sleep in."
Nix nodded taking a sip of her tea. She looked around the room, the extremely quiet room. "I hate to say it, but it's...kinda nice without the guys here. Ya know?"
"It's certainly very peaceful." Raven agreed.
"But it feels as if something is missing." Starfire said. "Something that not even a day of Robin-ing could make up for."
"Yeah..." Nix and Raven said simultaneously. "...Wait what?" Nix asked practically choking on her tea."
The three girls continued to stand around the counter until sometime around noon, they weren't surprised when the doors to the common room slid open with a hiss, after all this was the usual time for Beast Boy to come walking into the common room, however they were surprised at how Beast Boy looked.
The young changeling was still in his pajamas, that in itself wasn't strange as all of the titans present were in their pajamas, but there was something off. His pajamas were a mess, just like his hair, and his skin was now a more sickly green than it was usually, he had bags under his eyes, and he looked as if at any second he would just pass out.
"Well good morning sunshine." Raven said sarcastically.
Beast Boy wordlessly walked over to the counter and leaned on it to hold himself up. "Got any more tea?"
The three female titans went wide eyed, Beast Boy never drank tea, ever. The one time they could remember him drinking tea was the last time he had a real bad cold.
"I'll make some tea." Raven said grabbing a mug and the teapot.
"I shall grab the thermometer." Starfire said flying out of the common room.
"I'll make soup." Nix said grabbing an empty pot and a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup.
"Thanks." Beast Boy mumbled as he took the mug out of Raven's hands. Before he could take a sip, Starfire flew back in the room and shoved the thermometer in his mouth.
"Please keep that under your tongue until the thermometer-" the thermometer began to beep, Starfire quickly pulled it out of Beast Boy's mouth. "102 degrees." Starfire said in disbelief.
"BB you need to lie down." Nix said dragging Beast Boy over to the couch and making him lie down before running back to the stove to check on the soup.
"Guys I'm fine really I just wanted some tea." Beast Boy said as he tried to sit up. He stopped when he felt someone gently pushing his head back onto the couch.
"Beast Boy, you never want tea unless you're sick." Raven said as she sat down next to him, removing her hand from his forehead.
"We simply wish for you to get better as fast as possible in anyway we know." Starfire added as she landed in front of the couch and looked down at the sickly changeling. "Oh, for dessert I should make you the pudding of wellness."
The other three titans grimaced at this thought. "Soup's done!" Nix said as she put the finished soup in a bowl and brought it over to the sick changeling.
Beast Boy sat up slowly and took the bowl from his fellow teammate's hands. After eating a few spoonfuls of soup, he stopped and looked up to see three female faces looking back at him. "Uh...guys-"
"I took out all of the chicken I swear." Nix interrupted him.
"That's not what I'm trying to-"
"Do you need someone to feed you? Or do you need to throw up?" Starfire asked.
"No that's not what I'm trying to-"
"Then what are you trying to say?" Raven asked.
"Can I eat my soup in peace without you three staring at me?!" He asked exasperatedly.
"Oh...sure why not?" Nix said before heading for the exit of the common room. She stopped and turned around. "After you eat your soup would you like me to sing you to sleep?"
"You can sing?" Raven deadpanned.
"Not in the slightest!" She chirped.
"No thanks Nix. I just want to sit here, eat my soup, and drink my tea in peace." Beast Boy insisted.
"Alright well then I'm gonna go work on my fanfiction." Nix said before ducking out of the room.
Beast Boy turned expectantly to Raven and Starfire.
"Oh...yes I shall um, go walk Silkie." Starfire said getting up and floating to the door. "Please do not hesitate to ask if you need any pudding of wellness."
Beast Boy looked at Raven. "What? I'm not leaving, I'm not going to watch you eat, but I am going to sit in here and read my book." Raven said as she used her powers to pull a book off of the kitchen counter and into her hands.
Beast Boy nodded and continue to eat his soup. The two titans sat in complete silence until he finished. Before Beast Boy could even attempt to take his bowl and spoon over to the sink, Raven grabbed it. "I'll handle this, you just drink your tea."
As Raven walked over to the sink and began to wash the bowl, Beast Boy spoke up. "Why're you being so nice to me?"
"Instinct." Raven stated simply as she scrubbed the bowl thoroughly. She could sense Beast Boy was confused by her response and continued to speak. "When Starfire was a child her parents were running an entire planet, they didn't have time to watch three children. And Galfore was too busy with Blackfire's tantrums to always have an eye on Starfire and Wildfire, so in the event Wildfire was sick, Starfire would immediately leap into action to make sure he got better. Meanwhile Nix and her brother Kade were raised by a single mother, she had to work and homeschool Nix all at the same time, even though Nix was younger she was the one that would take care of Kade when he got sick. So it's just instinct to make sure you get better."
"That doesn't answer why you're being so nice." Beast Boy said before taking another sip of tea.
Raven seemed to become really interested in the bowl she was scrubbing, it was clear that it was completely clean now but she stared intently at it, not once moving her eyes from it as she spoke. "It just so happens that for me it is also instinct...but an instinct of a different kind. I've...grown accustomed to your...excitable attitude and if you're sick you can't continue on as you usually do, so it's in everyone's best interest really that you get better soon."
Beast Boy chuckled, "You sound like Mento."
"Do I?" Raven asked as she put down the bowl and turned to look at Beast Boy.
He chuckled some more. "Yeah, actually you all kind of remind me of people important to me. When I got sick as a kid, mom would always rush for the thermometer while dad would make me tea, and on the Doom Patrol Rita would make me soup while Mento would just kind of sit there and watch me, to make sure I didn't like puke or something. But this conversation in particular, at least the part about you, Mento pretty much the same thing last time I was sick around him." Beast Boy smiled to himself before taking another sip of tea.
Raven smiled to herself, it was nice to know that she wasn't the only one who had sad something like that to Beast Boy, but on the other hand she knew that Mento had meant that in a completely different way than her. She'd known Beast Boy for a few years now and admittedly she had fallen for him. So in a way, she was helping Beast Boy get better for selfish reasons. She wanted to, no needed to see his smile everyday, she needed to hear his laugh, and she loved it when he tried to make her smile, even though she usually ended up tossing him into the lake every time.
She watched as the changeling finished his cup of tea and put it on the table in front of him. "Need some more?" Raven asked.
"Nah, not now. Right now I think I just need a nap." Raven could just hear Happy giggling at this, considering Beast Boy had just woken up about 20 minutes ago. Beast Boy looked around the room and frowned when he noticed there wasn't a single pillow in sight.
"Hey Rae, can you come over here?" He asked as he motioned for the empath to come sit next to him on the couch. Not sure what he was up to, Raven complied. "Thanks, I needed a pillow." Beast Boy stated before resting his head in her lap.
Raven rolled her eyes, but didn't push the young changeling off, instead she opted to pick up her book which was lying forgotten on the couch cushions beside her and began to read.
"Whatcha reading?" Beast Boy asked. He'd opened his eyes when he realized Raven hadn't pushed him off the couch like he expected, and he wanted to know why.
"Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol. It's the sequel to Alice in Wonderland." She noticed the expectant look the young changeling was giving her. "Would you like me to read it to you?"
"Please and thank you." Beast Boy said as he smiled and then closed his eyes once more.
Raven sighed but began to read. "One thing was certain, the white kitten had had nothing to do with it: - it was the black kitten's fault entirely. For the white kitten had been having its face washed by the old cat for the last quarter of an hour-" [1]
Beast Boy drifted off as Raven read to him and soon enough, the sick changeling was asleep.
"Friend Nix, it has been 4 hours and I have not heard from friend Raven or from friend Beast Boy. Do you think they are alright?" Starfire asked, barging into Nix's room without even knocking first.
Nix quickly shut her laptop and pushed it under hear bed, grabbing her camera in the process. "Let's go find out."
When the two of them got into the common room, they saw Raven slumped over on the couch as if she were asleep. Upon further investigation they saw Raven's left hand on the couch next to her grasping her book, a combined copy of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, while her right hand rested lightly in Beast Boy's head as if she'd been stroking his hair while she read. Beast Boy himself was lying on the couch, also asleep, his head still in Raven's lap, with a content smile on his face.
Nix smirked. "Oh Cy is going to love this." She said as she made sure the flash was off on her camera and took a few pictures.
Starfire smiled contently at her two sleeping friends as she grabbed Nix's wrist and pulled her out of the room. "We had best leave them be friend Nix, I do not think either of them would appreciate it much if we woke them."
Nix took one more picture before letting Starfire drag her out of the room. "Yeah, you have a point Star, you have a point."
That's the story! X3
[1] - those are the actual first few lines of Through the Looking Glass. They are forever imprinted in my brain because of my final English paper in my Sophomore year of high school. That and the line "-and it really was a kitten after all." Otherwise known as the entirety of chapter 11 (waking) of Through the Looking Glass. Shortest. Chapter. Ever.
So yeah. Please R&R! :D