Does this count as SexEd?
Loud music, big crowds, lots and lots of alcohol. Just another usual friday night in another usual nightclub. What's not to love, right? Right. Well, not everyone share that opinion. For the inhabitants of the surrounding area, it can all be quite proving, especially when you must work early the day after, even on weekends. Old, grumpy men and women also tend to dislike clubs; be it true disliking or just envy for the younger generations is still a mystery, but the sentiment still remains. Strangely enough, even half-demon empaths share the sentiment. Thankfully, only one half-demon empath is know to be alive and not evil at the moment, and she tends to avoid such places like the plague. So at least the last group had already taken care of itself. Great, isn't it?
"Why am I here, again?"
So here was Raven, half-demon empath, superhero and, true to the stereotype mentioned above, not a fan of clubs, in a club, sitting at the counter and drinking a small cocktail. The look of frustration and annoyance on her face was evident even to the drunkest costumers, for even they, in their drunken stupor, stood far away from the purple haired Titan. At her sides, two other, incredibly amused Titans sat, each of them sipping from their drinks.
Cyborg and Beast Boy were much more used to the current atmosphere. Sure, being an hero left you with little time for yourself, and that time was usually scattered randomly through the week, but every once in a while they managed to get a free friday night like this.
Tonight, however, was special. Thanks to Robin and Starfire's... boyfriend and girlfriend cross Tameran/Human activities, the three remaining Titans were sorta, kinda forced to leave the tower. The boys took the occasion to enjoy a night off and, surprisingly, when they asked Raven if she wanted to tag along, she said "Alright".
Oh well... we all make mistakes sometimes...
"Come on, Rae!" Beast Boy encouraged from her left. "This is not so bad. We've got hot music, alcohol, nice view..." His eyes moved to the dance floor, where several girls were all but giving a show for the young heroes... yes, some of them for the empath too.
"It's Raven, and none of those things interest me."
"Now now, Rae, you're just not in the right mood!" Cyborg spoke from her right. "How can you enjoy yourself when you act all grumpy like that? You gotta relax, girl!"
"I could relax just fine if I was in my room with a book and some tea."
"Yeah, but you know how Robin gets when someone stumble on him and Star's... games..."
"Dude, please don't remind me. I still have nightmares from last time..."
"Why do they need the whole tower, anyway?" Raven asked in a slightly irritated tone. "Is a room too small for them? Actually, I don't want to know..."
Taking a sip from her drink, her face almost convulsed for a second, before she gulped the liquor down.
"Ugh, this is terrible. The music is terrible, the alcohol is terrible, the crowd is terrible, and all this damn emotions are TERRIBLE!"
She nearly shouted the last part. Truth to be told, this was all an awful mess. She should have know that largely crowded spaces were going to drive her empathy nuts, but she decided a bit of normal social life couldn't hurt so much, especially if Beast Boy and Cyborg were with her. Oh... how wrong she was...
For their part, the boys were starting to worry about their demonic teammate. They knew Raven had problems mentally blocking too many people at the same time, but they hoped some alcohol and music could help distract her. Obviously they had been wrong, but that didn't mean the idea was not a good one. They just needed a better distraction.
"Mmmh..." The green Titan looked around himself, searching for clues. There has to be something in here that could interest Raven...
And suddenly it hit him. I know!
"I think I have the perfect solution for you, Rae!"
"Ven. And what would it be?"
"You need a date!"
Both Raven and Cyborg eyed him immediately, him with an incredulous face, her with a murderous one.
"WHAT!" They both yelled at the same time.
"BB, are you insane?! What made you think asking that could be a good idea?"
"I'm just trying to help her, Cy! You can't say that would be bad for her."
Before the robotic hero could reply, Raven muttered dangerously in her glass, eyes hidden by purple hair.
"Beast Boy..." he gulped "I don't and won't want any date. Especially with the kind of people here." She gestured around the local. Maybe the boys didn't know it, but almost everyone here was only interested in some sort of one night stand with the most passable female they could manage to hook. The thought alone disgusted her, but of course she could literally feel them... ugh...
Beast Boy didn't relent however. "It hasn't to be anything serious. Just go and see if anyone catch your interest. Even just to talk, you might even have some fun! Actually, those guys down there... "
Raven face deadpanned even more, now completely expressionless. The tone she used to interrupt him was even more unsettling.
"Beast Boy. I'm not. Interested. In. Any Guys. Here. Got it?"
She turned again to her drink, but Beast Boy was not done yet. She obviously didn't care for any guy here... Mmh... guy...
"Raven, can I ask you something?"
The sorceress gave him another plain look. "What do you want now?"
"Sorry if I'm rude or somethin', but which way do you swing?"
No longer than one second after that, he received another powerful "WHAT!?" from his companions, but this time it was Cyborg who gave him the killer face. Raven, actually, was pretty confused by his question, and even her "what" had been pretty low in comparison to the robotic hero's one.
""BB, are you NUTS!? What the hell?!"
"Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry!" The green Titan quickly backed down. "I didn't mean anything by it! I-I was just trying to understand..."
"Trying to understand!? By dropping questions like these!?" Cyborg was incredulous. Didn't Beast Boy knew how Raven usually got when asked such private things?
"Ehm, guys?"
Both Beast Boy and Cyborg turned to the half-demon, and were pretty surprised by the look of confusion on her face.
"Could I know what are you talking about? What do you mean by way I swing?"
The changeling and robotic teen exchanged looks, not sure on what to do. Well, she never was a savant on "modern literature"...
Eventually Beast Boy found enough courage to speak.
"Well... it means... whatever you... well, romantically or s-sexually prefer... men or women."
The look on Raven face was probably hilarious. Probably, hadn't the situation been so absurd.
"Wait, what!" The sorceress exclaimed. "You mean... you can... prefer... your same gender?"
The boys exchanged looks again. That... was unexpected.
"Uh, yes, you can?" Cyborg answered cautiously.
"Oh... oh, I see... wait, does that mean... the dancing girls... they were, are... oh Azar..."
A small blush appeared on her cheeks. Clearly she hadn't expected that. They... they were... oh Azar...
Beast Boy and Cyborg were speechless. Did she really...
"Wait, wait." Beast Boy spoke again after a full minute of awkward silence. "You really didn't know this? Like, for real?"
Raven blushed again, but her voice was again under her control. "Yes Beast Boy, for real. Being raised by monks will do that to you too."
"So, you still don't know if you're straight or not, right?"
Raven blushed even harder at that. She really didn't like where all this was going.
On the other hand, Cyborg seemed much more wary (not to mention a little pissed at BB) than his green friend.
"BB, I don't think this is a good idea..."
"Come on, man! This is actually important! She should know at least that."
The half-robot sighed. He didn't like this, but he wasn't completely wrong. She should know at least that about herself.
"All right... but I don't like this."
Beast Boy lost no time, shifting his seat to face Raven, who was confused again by her two teammates. The only thing she knew was that this was going to be awkward as hell.
"Ok" the changeling started "I need you to picture an handsome man, and a super pretty girl."
Sighing, she did as she was told. She wasn't even surprised by what her mind summoned up. An human version of Aqualad (she coulnd't lie... he was that handsome) and... well, that was awkward... an human version of Starfire. Huh, self consciousness strikes again...
"Ok, now what?"
"Good. Now try and be honest... which would you prefer receive a kiss from?"
All the red on her cheeks returned ten times worse.
"W-what?! I-I mean... "Oh Azar, this is getting nowhere... "Listen, I don't think you understand what I meant. I can't have any sort of romantic relationship, no matter if it is with a man or a woman."
Beast Boy and Cyborg eyes widened at that. "What? Why's that?" the latter asked.
She scoffed a bit. At least her sarcasm was back. "I don't know if you've noticed, but my power are both very dangerous and strictly tied to my emotions."
Beast Boy looked saddened by her statement, but neither Cyborg or Raven could really tell why. After a couple seconds, he finally asked. "You mean you can't ever, like... really being with someone? At all?"
Raven's eyes dropped to the counter, a little sadness visible in them. "I... don't know really about that. However, I'm sure I can't just have a "fling", as you would call it." They all gave a small chuckle at that. It wasn't really funny, but just enough out of character and out of contest to break out a small chuckle from them. "I just can't risk it. Should anything happen, and it's my understanding that a lot of things can go wrong in such a relationship, I could lose control of my powers, and that's unacceptable... and dangerous. I can't just destroy an house every time I feel jealous, or if a crush just leave... or betrays me..."
She didn't need to speak any further. They all remembered the incident with the dragon, Malchior.
That time, she managed to not lose control (thanks in no small part to Beast Boy, she knew... but the team didn't need to know that), but then again, he was really little more than a crush. It was the feeling of loneliness that really got her... she didn't want to think what would have happened if he had tricked her some more...
Her depressing thoughts stopped, however, when she felt two hands, one large and metallic, the other gloved and warm, on her shoulders. Beside her, both Cyborg and Beast Boy were giving her small, honest smiles. She smiled herself, and returned her attentions to the glass before her. She was grateful they knew her so well. Had they gave her pity, she would have felt even worse. Instead they assured her, silently telling her that no matter what, they would still be a team, still be friends... still be together. After all, all Titans faced this problem in a way or another, but they could always count on each other, even for "trivial" things like these...
"Well, I suppose this has been an interesting experience in the end." The half-demon said, finishing her drink and ordering another.
Cyborg chuckled at that. "Eheh, so true, so true..."
"I guess you could call it you first SexEd lesson." Beast Boy said near her ear, he himself ordering another drink.
The sorceress game him an half amused look "Smooth, aren't you?"
"For you always, my dear Ven." He said, grinning like an idiot.
Raven rolled her eyes, a small smile on her lips. Well, I supposed I asked for it...
"Shut up and drink, before I teleport you back to Starfire's room."
Cyborg laughed at that.
Beast Boy, instead, shuddered.