Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.
Rain Dance
With a sigh, Raven placed a bill on a growing pile to her right. She had never before realized how much money and paperwork it took to remain living in Titans Tower and pay-off the damage they made to the city during their battles.
It was a rare, rainy day in Jump City, and all the Titans were sitting around the table, catching up on the bills and things they had been continuously pushing aside. In that aspect they were lucky. The city never commented on how long they left their bills and fees unpaid, as long as they continued successfully saving the city and the money was paid eventually.
Unfortunately, it was on these slow, rainy days that Robin always remembered their financial responsibilities and made them sit around and figure out the expenses.
It was long, tedious work, and it made Raven wonder why they didn't just pay the bills when they were supposed to, instead of waiting so long that it required a full day of the five of them working on them to get it all out of the way.
Starfire had long ago retired to her room, claiming to have a headache and promising to come back after a quick nap. Robin had followed soon after, telling everyone that he just needed a few minutes to rid himself of his restlessness.
That left Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy sitting around the table. Calculator button clicked furiously under Raven and Beast Boy's fingers, while Cyborg simply did the work in his computer-enhanced brain.
Suddenly there was a flash of lightning and the tower was thrown into darkness.
"Storm must've caused a blackout," Cyborg commented, looking out at the city across the bay. Sure enough, none of the building or street lights were on. "I'll just go turn on the back-up generator."
Silently, Cyborg opened the light on his shoulder and left the main room. With a wave of her hand, Raven used her powers to reach into a cupboard in the kitchen, pulling out a couple candles and setting them on the table that she and Beast Boy sat at.
They continued to work by candle light, neither saying a word.
Wearily resting her chin on her right arm, Raven carefully pushed the buttons on her calculator. A flash of lightning lit up the room, causing both Raven and Beast Boy to look over at the window listlessly. The low rumbling of thunder followed it, and Raven apathetically turned back towards the paperwork in front of her.
Beast Boy, however, continued to look out the window at the rain pouring down outside. Slowly becoming aware of Beast Boy's disinterest in the bills still piled up on the table, Raven watched him curiously.
He was looking out the window with a strangely pensive look on his face. Noticing her eyes on him, Beast Boy looked over at her, and she saw the mischievous sparkle in his eyes. She frowned in confusion, but Beast Boy simply smiled and stood up. Walking around the table, he pulled Raven up gently by her elbow and led her away from the table.
"Where are we going?" she asked, watching the back of his green head as he silently pulled her out of the room and through the hallways. Before she knew it, Raven found herself standing with the changeling at the front door.
"You're not planning on going out there, are you?" Raven asked in disbelief. "It's pouring."
His only response was a sly wink before he opened the large door. Without bothering to grab a jacket from the nearby closet, Beast Boy stepped outside.
Raven watched in fascination as he walked further away from the building, face turned towards the crying heavens above and arms outstretched. He wore a look of serenity that she rarely saw on the happy-go-lucky young man.
"You're crazy," she informed him, calling from her dry place just inside the open doorway. He looked over to her and smiled. For some reason, the grin made Raven's heart speed up just a bit.
"Dance with me," he requested, lowering one of his arms and holding the other out to her.
"What?" Raven asked incredulously. "No. Stop fooling around. We've still got work to do, bills to pay."
Shaking his head, Beast Boy let out a whisper of a laugh and repeated his earlier request. "Dance with me."
Raven wasn't sure of the strange feeling that was spreading through her at that moment. Maybe it was her frustration at the monotony of the paperwork that waited for them at the kitchen table, maybe it was all the stress of growing up finally catching up to her, or maybe it was just the calm, affectionate expression that Beast Boy wore. Whatever the reason, Raven found herself hesitantly stepping out onto the rainy pavement of the doorstep.
Slowly, she walked down the walkway and stepped cautiously onto the green grass Beast Boy stood on. She was aware that she was barefoot, and that she had left her cloak inside the Tower, but Raven found that for some reason, she just didn't care.
Big, fat raindrops fell onto her body, slipping down her skin with soothing fluidity, and soaking into her leotard. Growing closer to her green teammate, Raven accepted his hand.
Smiling, Beast Boy pulled her closer. It wasn't very much closer, just close enough that both could easily hold each other's hands and slowly they began to turn. Closing her eyes, Raven listened to the pitter-patter of the rain, the whistling of the wind and the low rumble of thunder. Soon, a rainy symphony had built up around her, and she found herself dancing more freely.
Letting go of Beast Boy's moist hands, Raven danced. She wasn't sure what she was doing, she just knew that it didn't matter. Her strange, yet fluid motions, stumbling twirls and imperfect jumps were perfectly fine out here in the rain. Away from the pressures of growing up, away from responsibilities, all that mattered was the wonderful feeling of the rain.
A smile formed itself on her face, but Raven couldn't care less. Who really cared if anyone could see just how much she was enjoying the frivolity of dancing in the rain?
And so, she continued to dance with a smile on her face, her green friend dancing next to her with the same calm sentiments.
She stumbled on the wet grass as a flash of lightning lit the sky, and she realized that her feet had grown numb. Slowly, she ended her rain dance, and looked over at Beast Boy, still smiling. He had stopped dancing as well, and now just stood there his tongue out and a ridiculously large grin spread across his face.
She walked over and grabbed his hand. He looked over in surprise, as though he had almost forgotten she was there, and they slowly walked back to the tower.
Just a short one-shot I wrote because... well, actually I have no idea why I wrote it. I just wanted to. Sorry if the whole "paying bills" thing seems stupid or anything, it just seemed to fit better than some of the other thungs I came up with, like sorting criminal files.
Oh, a quick note to anyone who has been reading "Sometimes Love Just Needs Less", I am SO sorry! I know it's been a long time since we last updated, but life's been pretty busy lately, especially for Regrem Erutaerc, so we haven't had much time to work on it. Don't worry, I'll do my best to get things moving.
-Tammy Tamborine