The Titan's 'family game night' was pretty much only a game between the boys. Starfire was always eager to participate, but no matter how many ways they explained Monopoly to her, she just couldn't get it. It made sense, American economics didn't really seem like something that a Tamaranean alien would be interested in, let alone grasp. Raven, on the other hand, participated in game night by either beating them all at chess, or reading a book at the table and throwing in comments once or twice. Today, however, Beast Boy brought home a new card game. Something to do with gods, monsters, heroes and villains. The rules were pretty simple and everyone was invested in it.
In this game, as it was different every time, Robin was the great hero of Roe, and Cyborg was the worst villain they had. Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven were all supporting players this time, and they were all trying to out-do the other, minions to Cyborg or teammates to Robin.
"Watch out, Rae! I'm about to cream you with magic blue fire." Beast Boy was on Cyborg's team of course, while Raven was thrown as the odd man out onto the Hero Team.
She threw down a card and rolled a die. "Deflected by the Mirror of Alduin." She replied dully to his threat. Starfire clapped happily.
"Marvelous!"
Beast Boy sulked. "Sorry, dude." He nodded at Cyborg.
But his villainous leader was too busy glaring at the smirking Boy Wonder. Robin was relishing having both girls on his team, as one was passionate and played hard, and the other was smart and strategic. Beast Boy and Cyborg were gaming veterans, but that didn't mean they were winning this new one. "Don't worry. We'll get em'."
They played for what turned out to be another hour, (three total) with the side of good once again triumphing over evil.
"Gah!" Cyborg whined. "You only won because it was two against three!"
Robin held up two fingers. "One, you're the one who wanted Raven on the good side-"
"That's because the girl's never played games with us and enjoyed it before!" He interrupted. Raven glared at him and flicked a game piece at his head.
"And TWO," Robin continued. "The evil side has much stronger monsters."
Beast Boy threw down the list of cards in the instruction manual. "Yeah, but you guys have two times as many utility cards!"
Raven's vein in her forehead was pulsating from frustration. She cleared her throat loudly, but no one seemed to pay attention. Instead, she took action. The game pieces neatly threw themselves back in the box and the cards were all properly organized and stacked together, held by a rubber band. She finished it off by sealing the game box up with packing tape all around it and it disappeared into the floor. "It's JUST a GAME." She hissed monotonously.
Everyone was speechless at the display, all except Cyborg. "Hey! Where'd you send it?!" She declined to answer. "Aw, nah Rae! You give it back right now! We're having a rematch!"
Her deadpanned expression deflated his competitive nature. "But-I-uh… Fine." He sighed and flopped back into his chair. "Who wants pizza?"
"Agreed!" Starfire clapped again. "The game of cards and monsters has greatly increased my appetite! Can we leave now?"
"I was thinking more like ordering a couple?" Cyborg suggested.
"Yeah! Then we can watch the new movie Robin got me for my nineteenth birthday!" Beast Boy finished. He was already running to the shelves to find the DVD.
Robin nodded. "Sounds good. Raven, you joining us?"
"Sure." She sighed. Starfire was thrilled and threw her strong arms around her friend. Raven had tried to promise herself and her friends that she'd be more present in their daily activities. "I'll make tea."
"Ew, really—" Beast Boy began. She shot him a deathly look that said, 'I'm watching your stupid action movie, the least you can do is consent to some damn tea'. So he shut up.
Starfire patted Beast Boy on the head. "I understand, Beast Boy. I realize that the grass drinks of Azarath—"
"They're from Earth."
"—can be 'the gross'. But we must respect Raven's strange customs."
"Lots of humans drink tea..."
"And that is why I shall make the traditional Tamaranian dish of Mufzar! It may go well with grass drinks, because it is drier than small dirt particles near oceans!" She dove into the kitchen to prepare.
"You couldn't just accept the tea." Raven appeared next to him, disgruntled.
He nudged her with his elbow. "Aw, come' on Rae. We must 'respect her customs' like she respects yours."
"And she calls tea gross." She huffed and went to prepare the kettle and get out her flasks of dried herb tea. Beast Boy could feel the contents of his stomach curdle already at whatever Starfire was making that was drier than sand.
"Is that pizza being ordered, yet?" He anxiously called over his shoulder.
"Yup!" Cyborg replied. "With ALLLL the meat and anchovies you can eat!"
"DUDE, NO!" Beast Boy ran over there to intervene before it was too late.
Not long after, all but Starfire were settled into the couch. "Star, come ON!" Beast Boy whined. "Hurry up so I can press play!"
The DVD had been looping the loading screen for what felt like ages. "Please friends," She called from the kitchen. "A few moments more, I assure you!" She was grinning broadly when the oven finally *ding-ed*, and pulled out the food with her bare hands. "Success!" She cried.
Now returning to the couch, she handed off her goodies to the rest of the team. They looked like biscotti, but pure black, like someone burned bread at the bakery. They were jagged and sharp looking on the edges, like brittle rock. Beast Boy, rather reluctantly, went first under her hopeful gaze. He raised it tentatively to his mouth and took a hesitant bite. His eyes widened to twice their size, and he tensed up. It felt as though his tongue was being leeched of all its moisture.
"Ahhhh!" He found himself waving his arms, tongue flopping outside his mouth, dry as bone. "Tar!" He yelled. "You nevah ed tha eh woul make my ounge ah die ah and!" He cried.
Starfire was fully perplexed. "What? I do not fully understand."
"He said," Cyborg offered. "Star, you never said that it would make my tongue as dry as sand. End quote." He grinned at poor Beast Boy who nodded along helplessly.
Curious, Raven took one of the strange 'Mufzars' in her hand. It was brittle and crackled when given pressure. One side was so sharp it nearly cut the skin on her thumb. She frowned and dipped it into her cup of tea while the rest of the Titans were distracted with Beast Boy's tongue. Once it reached the surface of the tea, the strange alien food sucked the entire contents of the cup into it, like a bionic sponge. After, the cup was completely dry.
"Better keep these away from the ocean." She said to no one. She took a cautious bite and relished the feeling of both a crummy crunch and an over-wash of tea on her tongue. It was like dunking buttered toast in milk. It was heaven. "Starfire, these are good."
No one heard her, though, like usual. Well, except Beast Boy whose ears perked up to a straight attention. "Wha!?" He accused.
"Drink the tea." She commanded, handing him a full cup. His expression suggested that, even though his tongue was about to fall out of his mouth and converge into a pile of dust on the table, he still didn't want anything to do with it.
Finally, though, Beast Boy relented and took the cup, nearly draining the whole thing and holding it in his mouth to let it wash over his tongue. Finally, after what felt like forever to the rest of them, he swallowed and sighed in relief. "Dude, that was horrific." He panted out.
Starfire hung her head in shame. "I am so sorry. Forgive me, I did not think that the Mufzar would have such an effect."
"Starfire," Raven repeated, once again. "These are good."
Starfire's head snapped up. "Oh, truly?"
Raven nodded, reaching for the next one after having finished the first, and pouring herself another cup of tea. "They're actually, sort of, perfect." She demonstrated her discovery to them all and each of them were amazed.
"Whoa, think of all the spills we could clean up with these things. They're better than a sham-wow!" Cyborg exclaimed.
Robin patted Starfire reassuringly on the shoulder, and they all agreed that these were the very few strange alien foods that would be eaten regularly in the tower.
"Okay," Beast Boy loudly interjected. "We gotta' start that movie now!" He waved the remote at them all. Starfire nodded in agreement and the boys got settled in. Raven resisted the urge to grab a book. "Here we go!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
"Wait!" Robin interjected. Beast Boy nearly threw the remote at his head.
"What now?" He sighed deeply.
Robin pointed at one of the adjacent monitors to the TV. It was a map of the tower, and the front door was a blinking red dot. "Pizza's here."
Beast Boy's ears fell and he grumbled all the way to the front door. The delivery guy was shocked when the door flew open, smacked the side of the tower, and an angry green bear appeared to take all three boxes in his teeth before turning and sulking back down the hallway. A sheepish Cyborg paid behind him. They sent the delivery boy away without much other thought. Pizzas were distributed, tea was re-poured for the third time, and everyone had taken their respective seats.
"OKAY." Beast Boy's tone suggested a finality to the situation. "HERE. WE. GO." He pressed play too quickly for anyone to object. He sighed in relief and plopped down next to Raven who was smooshed between him and Cyborg.
Great. She thought. No escape.
Robin was overwhelmingly jealous that he'd bought the movie for Beast Boy instead of himself. It was really fantastic. A James Bond meets Sherlock meets Die-Hard movie that kept you guessing at the identity of the villain at every turn. There were traps, car chases, gun fights, knife fights and a romantic sub-plot that made Robin hug Starfire a little closer toward the end. She nuzzled his neck in response. As the climax of the movie reached its peak, everyone (even Raven) gasped at the reveal of the villain. Never in their wildest dreams would they have expected it to be the old farmer who had sheltered their hero in the very beginning of the film. Never would they have guessed that the old man was the leading mind behind a massive drug cartel in Colombia, and that his daughter (the hero's romantic interest) would be shot in the end.
"No!" Starfire gasped. "It cannot be!" Robin rubbed her shoulder sympathetically.
Beast Boy shook his head, and Cyborg nudged Raven. "Look," He whispered and pointed at Beast Boy's face. It was clear the green Titan was trying to puzzle his way through the plot.
"Nuh-uh." He thought aloud. "Just wait for it."
Suddenly, on the movie screen, the hero brought the villains daughter back to life with CPR, in the rain, blood pooling everywhere. He held pressure to her wound, claimed that 'she'd make it outta here alive' and they shared a kiss covered in blood and raindrops, all in the light of a full moon.
Starfire cheered, Robin kissed her and Beast Boy beamed at both Cyborg and Raven who were gagging. "Knew it." He proudly stated.
Raven rolled her eyes at him. "You watch too many movies."
He shrugged. "Aren't-cha glad they got together in the end?" He poked her side and smirked at Cyborg. "You know you were bummed when you thought she died."
"I was nothing of the sort," she slapped his hand away. "People die. It happens."
"You'd be devastated if one of us died." He poked her again.
She looked at both boys who loved to torment her and said, "Yes."
It went silent. They were floored.
"But I'd also be getting a lot more peace and quiet around here." She finished.
Both burst out laughing. "Almost had me, Rae!" Cyborg noogie'd her lightly.
"Stop." She chastised weakly, then smoothed her hair with dignity and grace. You shouldn't joke about those kind of things, anyway. She thought.
Cyborg patted her re-done hair gently and stretched. "Okay, time for bed." He announced.
"The lovebirds are already gone, Cy." Beast Boy commented.
"Oh, damn."
Raven stood and stretched. Her hip made a little *pop* noise and she winced. "Ah," she whimpered. "How long was that movie?"
"It was a long one." Beast Boy looked at the back. "Dude, it took almost three hours!"
"Didn't feel like it." Cyborg waved over his shoulder. "That was a good one. Night y'all."
Beast Boy went to the DVD player and popped the disk back into the case. "That was a good one, wasn't it Rae?"
She was halfway to the door already. "Mhm." She replied absentmindedly. It's…what? Midnight? Whoa. 2 am. She thought to herself.
"Yeah? You liked it?" He asked.
She turned, annoyed. "Sure, Beast Boy. It was fine."
"Really?" He asked.
"Yes." She hissed, pulling her cloak around her to nuzzle into it. She was tired and cold. "Why do you keep asking me?"
He opened his mouth to answer, but decided against it. "I don't know."
"Alright then," She huffed. "Goodnight, Beast Boy."
"Uh, er. Night, Rae." He replied.
She left him alone in the living room, the door sliding shut behind her with a soft click.
…
It wasn't yet sunrise, which Raven was sure of. It couldn't have been, the dark morning fell heavy on the city. She guessed around 5 am.
"I didn't sleep at all." She hissed at her drapes. They were half open; the moon shined through.
The thick, velvet blue of the drapes made her sleepy, but the light was too much to bear. She stood up from the bed, her long flowing sweatpants swirled around her ankles. She shivered in her small tank top and pulled the drapes shut. Quickly, she scurried back to bed to hop under the warm blankets, but on the floor at the very edge was something sharp.
"Ow!" She hissed, grinding her teeth. "I imagine that's what it's like to step on one of Beast Boy's Legos." She stooped down and searched in the dark for the offensive object. She pulled the drape open a fraction of an inch and held it up to the light. "Close enough."
It was one of those stupid game pieces from earlier. She frowned at it, then summoned the box from under her bed.
"W-what?" The box was still wrapped shut in packing tape. There was no way this piece could have escaped. She gently placed the piece on her altar and turned on the lights. "What are you?"
It was the small, detailed and intricate shape of a purple dragon. It settled nicely on a black circle stand that held it up. Her mahogany wood altar was so dark, it nearly swallowed the piece whole. She didn't like this new, dark dragon piece, so she lit a candle and watched it burn.
Raven thought that it melted quite nicely.
When she returned to her covers they no longer held the lingering warmth of her sleeping body. Instead, they were slippery and cold sheets that made her shiver even more. "Maybe I should light myself on fire." She sighed. "Does no one regulate the AC in this tower?"
After twenty minutes she gave up and put on more layers. After another five minutes of that, she could see her breath. "Ugh!" She flopped back on her pillows in disgust. Sleep was very important to her, and right now she was ready to light the whole room on fire.
"Fine." She grumbled into the darkness of her room. "I'll go wake up Chrome-Dome and find out where he put the thermostat."
The hallway was warmer than her room. In fact, about halfway to Cyborg's door, she was sweating. She had to pull off the crew-neck she'd thrown on over her t-shirt and tied it around her waist. Now she looked like Robin if he were off to kickbox something. Finally reaching Cyborg's door, Raven summoned all her cranky, sleepless frustration and pounded on it.
He didn't come to the door. She attempted a magical approach to it, but it wouldn't budge. He must have some sort of protection on it. She thought. Fine. She pounded harder. Finally, the door opened.
To her right.
"RAVEN." Beast Boy hissed/whispered, rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing?"
She opened her mouth to begin the tale of her freezing discomfort, but his half-asleep expression told her that he:
A: Wasn't going to register any of it, and
B: Had no way of helping her out of her predicament.
Instead, she huffed and stalked back to her room which was emitting a cold draft. It began to permeate that part of the hall now, and it made her cough. How can this be so cold? She thought. I've really got to talk to Cyborg about going overboard with his tech… and maybe about building a fireplace.
She angrily pulled her pillows and comforter off the bed and left her room closed and locked.