No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
~Aesop, The Lion and the Mouse
She felt cold. But she didn't rub uselessly at her arms or shiver pointlessly the way the people on the streets around her did. The sudden change of temperature in Jump City made her realize winter was not to far away. The cold little snowflakes falling and blurring her vision as they landed on her thick eyelashes didn't stop her as she made her way down the darkened street in Jump City to her favorite coffee shop a mile away from Titans tower. The cold winter air pushed restlessly at her and made her hair whip around her face uncomfortably; she pulled the hood up of the grey sweater she was wearing and gritted her teeth as she rounded a corner and came into view of the little warm shop.
Smiling a bit in the inside, she walked to the door and pulled it open. Once inside, she was flooded with warmth.
She noticed how empty it was in the shop as she slowly walked to the counter and waited for someone to come and take her order.
"What would you like?" a man said as her came out from the back room and stared at her with a bored expression. She gave him a small smile, "Coffee please." She said. He nodded briskly and set to work on completing his task.
The door opened and a burst of cold air flooded the shop as a young mom pushed inside her family and sat them down at a table away from the door. Raven stared unemotionally at the little girl who looked around the age of eight help her little brother into a chair.
"That'll be 2.49," the man's voice said from behind the counter, she pulled out the money and handed it to him. "Thanks," she mumbled as she got some change and dumped it in her pocket.
She took a seat next to a window and stared out into the storm, her breath fogged the glass and she turned her attention back to the family she saw come in a few minutes ago.
The little girl was staring at her curiously while the mom was at the counter ordering something for them.
She sipped her coffee and pulled out her communicator. She turned it over so she can see the back and flipped the switch off; she really didn't feel like leaving before she finished her coffee.
"Aren't you cold?" a voice asked from next to her. She turned to look at who asked her and narrowed her eyes at the little girl she saw from across the shop. She shook her head and took another sip from her cup. "Don't talk much huh?"
"Not that it matters to you." She monotone. The little girl blinked and didn't seem unfazed by the lack of emotion in her voice so she sighed and sat back in her chair and looked at the little girl again. "No I'm not."
"Really?" the little girls voice had a disbelieving tone to it and made Raven smirk at her. "Yes really." She replied hastily.
It was the little girls turn to narrow her eyes at her as she tried to see behind her emotional shield. "My name is Hayden." The little girl said as Raven studied her for a while. "Hasn't your mother told you not to talk to strangers?" Raven asked as she looked around the shop.
The little girl didn't even blink as she answered her question, "My mom is in the bathroom and I don't think you're strange." Raven looked at her.
The little girl's blonde hair was tied into a ponytail and she had earmuffs resting around her neck. She was wearing a thick sweater with who knows how many scarves wrapped securely underneath and was wearing thick black pants that covered her shoes. "I'm Raven." She answered back as she finished taking in the girl's appearance.
The little girl smiled and cocked her head to the side, "You never answered my question. Aren't you cold?"
"Are you could?" Raven questioned back. She shrugged and looked around, "Of course I am," she gazed back at Raven and studied her, "But you never said you were or weren't." Hayden smirked at her and crossed her arms over her chest and waited for her to say something. "Unless you weren't paying attention, I said I wasn't cold."
"That's past-tense so I take it you are now?" the corner of Raven's lips lifted upward slightly as she stared at Hayden. She stared back at her with mirth in her eyes and challenged Raven to disagree with her, "I'm not cold right now, honest." Raven replied as she raised her right hand in the air. The little girl smiled and giggled at her.
Raven watched as the little girl pulled out a chair and sat next to her, "How old are you?" Hayden asked, as she got comfortable on the chair. "Eighteen, what about you?" she answered calmly. "Nine. I go to Dakota Elementary, (1) about five minutes away from this shop."
Raven nodded as she recalled passing that school sometimes when the team gets called into battle. "I've passed by it a few times." Hayden smiled and nodded, "What do you do?"
"What do you mean?" Raven asked carefully. "Like what is your job? My mom works at my school and I want to be a doctor when I get older.
"Oh. Um, I help people." 'It wasn't a total lie' she thought to herself as Hayden seemed to be taking it in, she could see her thinking about what she was going to ask next and she felt she knew what she was going to say. "How?" Raven smirked; she knew she was going to ask that. "I guess like, I volunteer and help the city out when ever I can."
"That's cool, my dad used to volunteer for the city also. He liked making fundraisers for the community and donating money to people who need it." Raven took a sip of her warm coffee as she thought about what to say next. "He died last year though." She said apathetically after a moment's silence. Raven coughed and stared at her apologetically, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, it's the past, and I'm happy I at least got to know him."
"Hayden?" Hayden turned her head in the direction of her mothers voice and waved at her, "Coming!" she called out as she stood up from the chair and looked back at Raven.
Hayden pulled off a purple scarf from around her neck and handed it to her, she smiled and walked away before she could say something about it. Raven stared after the family as they made their way to the door and out into the cold storm.
She looked down at the soft scarf and smiled. She wrapped it around her neck and took a sip of her cold coffee. She pulled out her communicator and flipped the switch back on as she made her way to the door.
She opened the door and welcomed the cold air the reached out and wanted to touch her skin, she didn't feel cold anymore as she made her way out into the snow back to the tower.
Once she reached the tower and walked inside to find everyone on the couch watching a show on the TV she nodded to them and started walking away when a voice stopped her before she reached the door, "Would you like to watch a movie with us? We were waiting for you to get here." Robin asked.
She smiled, "Sure." She walked to the couch and sat next to Robin who had scooted over and made space for her to sit. She mumbled thanks and turned the power off with her magic so she didn't have to get up and do it manually.
"So what do y'all say we should watch?" Cyborg asked as he sorted through different movies in front of the large TV screen.
"We should watch Wicked Scary again!" Beastboy called from where he was sitting on the couch. Starfire shook her head, "I do not wish to view that movie again. It was quite disturbing the first time we viewed it. Please, can we watch The Legendary Tales of Manny?"(2) "Aw dude no! We watched that last time and it was boring!" Beastboy whined and hid his head in his hands. Cyborg rolled his eyes and grabbed a movie he thought would satiate both teens.
Raven smiled at her friends and turned to look at Robin who was looking at her, or rather what was around her neck. He fingered it carefully and looked at her with a raised eyebrow; she shrugged and turned her attention to the screen while the previews were starting, "Someone gave it to me." She answered his unspoken question. When he kept looking at her she sighed and rolled her eyes, "A little girl I meet at the coffee shop gave it to me after we met." She smiled at the memory.
"It looks good on you." He whispered loud enough so she could only hear, she tried to hide the blush that was covering her cheeks but even in the dim light he caught and smiled at her.
He shifted his arms so that they were resting on the couch behind her head and Starfire's, she eyed him a moment before looking at Cyborg, "Do you have popcorn?" she asked. He smiled at her and stood up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to make some, "Just wait a moment and you'll have some okay?" She nodded and shifted her body on the couch so she was sitting a bit closer to Robin; he looked back at her and smiled.
The movie started just as Cyborg came walking back to the couch with two bowls filled to the top with popcorn. He hand her one and took the other one for himself. She grabbed one and just as she was about to place it in her mouth, Robin took it out of her hand and ate it. She glared at him and he shrugged and laughed, "Too slow." He whispered quietly in her ear. She shook her head and motioned toward the bowl, "Couldn't you've gotten one from here?" she asked baffled. She opened her mouth to say something else but with his quick reflexives he grabbed popcorn from the bowl and placed it in her mouth. She closed it instinctively and he smiled at her, "There, better?" he asked. She chewed slowly and glared at him, he laughed.
"SHH!" three voices stopped his laughter, he looked over at the other titans and smiled apologetically, "Sorry," Robin mumbled.
Raven smirked at him and continued watching the movie.
About an hour into this movie Raven was starting to feel tired, she looked over at the others and notice the others were looking the same thing. She tried to keep her eyes open and on the TV but only manage to keep them open for five minutes before she drifted into sleep.
After the movie almost everyone was asleep or really tired, Robin glanced over at Beastboy and Starfire on the other side of the couch and saw that they were asleep.
Cyborg stifled a yawn and said goodnight to Robin who was the only other one awake and left the room with Beastboy and Starfire slung over his shoulders to go to bed.
He glanced over at Raven who was snuggled next to him asleep; he smiled at her and touched her shoulder softly. She mumbled stuff he couldn't make out and shift her so she was resting on the couch's armrest; he sighed and as carefully as he could, stood up and picked her up in his arms. She curled up against his chest instinctively, he smiled again and carried her to her room and couldn't help but notice how light she was.
Once he reached her room, he opened her door and stepped inside the dark room. He waited for his eyes to adjust before continuing on in her room and making his way carefully to her bed and laying her down on top of it. Her carefully wrapped the covers around her and looked at her asleep, she looked peaceful. Her face was relaxed and her lips were parted slightly, her breathing was slow and regular and he knew he had never seen a more beautiful sight.
He took a couple a steps away from her bed before remembering the scarf wrapped around her neck and carefully as he can, reached for it and unwrapped it around from her neck and placed it next to her. He nodded to himself and quietly made his way to her door.
"Goodnight Robin," he heard her call from her bed. He stopped and smiled, "Goodnight Raven." There wasn't any more noise as he shut the door behind him and walked out into the dark hallway.
He stood out in the hallway for a moment and let his thoughts run while he stared at her door in the dark. It felt like hours before he decided to move from the spot he was standing on and walk to his own room.
Raven woke up as some of the sun's light started to filter into her room and fill her room. She sat up and rubbed her face with her hands and looked down at herself and noticed she was still wearing the same thing from yesterday. She pulled herself out of her bed and stretched the sleep out of her body, she walked to her closet and grabbed some clothes and carried it with her to the bathroom she shared with Starfire.
Thirty minutes later she walked out of the bathroom wearing a white V-neck long sleeved shirt and a black skirt; she walked back into her room and headed to her closet so she can find some shoes. She grabbed her black boots and pulled them on and placed her clothes in a pile inside her closet so she can wash them later.
She walked to her bed and pulled the purple scarf out from under her blanket and wrapped it around her neck and teleported herself out of the tower and out into the city.
She walked down the busy streets to the school and ignored all the guys that were staring at her and trying to get her attention.
Once she reached the elementary she looked at the playground and watched all the little kids running around and laughing. She noticed some of them throwing snow at each other and blaming it on others as they ran away laughing and giggling. She continued searching the area until she spotted the familiar blonde little girl sitting on a swing giggling as a boy pushed her, she smirked at the sight and waited a bit before walking up to the fence and quietly calling out to her.
The girl's eyes widened and she jumped off the swing and ran to the fence where Raven was waiting, "Raven! What are you doing here?" she asked light-heartedly. Raven shrugged and smiled at her, "Just wanted to know why you gave me your scarf."
Hayden shrugged and played with her mittens she was wearing, "You were cold." She said casually and looked up to stare at Raven with a smile, "And you're wearing it now," she pointed out happily. "I never said I was cold." Raven said with a smile.
"You may not have said you were cold, but I could tell. You were lying when you said you weren't cold."
"You didn't even know me." Raven pointed out. Hayden shrugged, "Just cause you were a stranger doesn't mean I couldn't be kind to you." "Were?" Raven asked. "Yeah, you're my friend now… aren't you?" Raven nodded. "Yeah… friends."
Hayden looked at her and studied her face, "You don't seem to euphoric about it." Raven looked at her surprised and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Euphoric huh? Tell me, what grade your in again." Raven asked. "Fifth, but I'm really smart because my teacher uses big words and I've learned them." She answered simply. "And you didn't seem happy when you said we were friends." She said after a few minutes passed by.
"I am happy, I just don't show my emotions." Raven said. "I really am." Raven said after Hayden didn't answer. "I believe you." Hayden giggled.
They stayed quiet, both enjoying the others presence until Hayden spoke up again, "So does your boyfriend know you're here?" Raven looked at her with shock clearly written on her face, "What, you don't have a boyfriend?" Hayden asked after seeing Raven's expression. "No! What would make you say something like that?" she replied hastily. "Its just cause your really pretty… and I figured you had one. Sorry I didn't mean to upset you." Raven shook her head, "Its not that you upset me, its just that you surprised me."
"So you don't have one but want one?"
"I don't know."
"Do you like anybody?"
Raven looked down and shook her head. Hayden looked at her with narrowed eyes, clearly not believing her and just as she was going to say something, the bell rang, dismissing them from the playground, "I got to go, bye!"
"Do you want your scarf back?" Raven asked, Hayden shook her head and smiled at her, "Its yours! Just take care of it! Bye Raven!" Hayden waved at her as she rushed inside the building out of sight.
Raven walked away from the gate as she thought about their last conversation, 'I don't like anyone' she thought to herself. 'Sure keep telling yourself that' the other part of her mind told her. She sighed and continued walking until she walked to the busiest street in Jump city and decided to turn back and head to the tower so she can read or meditate.
(1) I doubt that there is actually a school called Dakota Elementary, it was the first name that came to my head so… yeah.
(2)And the movie is probably not even a real movie; I just figured it MIGHT be something Starfire would watch.
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, just Hayden and the plot
So what do you guys think? I'm actually trying to improve my writing skills and I actually think I didn't do that bad, I also used some big words I've been wanting to use and I feel so accomplished right now haha:D Please review and tell me what you think of this story *Smiles*