Disclaimer: I own nothing. Being a hobo sucks.
The green elfin character with the roguish grin stood behind the corner to the main room, mischief playing in his eyes as he prepared to make his move. He had been planning this for days, and he knew that it was now or never to make his move. The spacious living room was empty of all inhabitants save a dark haired floating girl. Her violet eyes were closed and only a slight whisper could be heard coming from her lips, the mantra that had started a fad among the punk neo gothic teenage crowd, "Azarath metrion zenthos."
These words were the only noise in the spacious room, and slight as they were, to the green goy with the enhanced sense of sound, they were as loud as if she were speaking them aloud, directed primarily at him. In his hand he held a small trinket, integral to pulling this off, he had thought about it for months and knew that this was going to be the only chance he had to do this, no one else was in the tower, and he couldn't summon the inner bravery to pull it off even if everyone else was in their rooms.
Starfire and Nightwing had gone to the mall to shop for a present for Cyborg's upcoming birthday. He would be nineteen, and subsequently would hold a two year gap on all the other Titans until Starfire's birthday which was a scant two weeks after. Cyborg himself was at a car audio store, picking up a new subwoofer that he had bought and had to be shipped from Japan. The sub was a gift from the owners after Cyborg had saved the shop from a rampage by Overload. Most of the stuff the Titans had was gifts from people they had saved, people who had been kept from harm, or had had their life's work protected seemed more than happy to make gifts to the Titans.
But none of this mattered to Beast Boy at the moment, all that mattered was that he go through with this, he knew somewhere inside that if didn't do this now, their would be no second chance. And so he gathered his courage and stepped out from behind the corner, moving with innate silence that came from having transformed into a hunting cat many times. Making swift, but silent, movements he was quickly behind her, staring at her ravishing dark hair, he could barely contain himself, this was it, the moment of truth.
He raised his hand to her shoulder, preparing himself to touch her shoulder and rouse her from her meditation. But he for some reason couldn't do it, he couldn't rouse her.
Mentally he cursed at himself, "Damn it Gar, why can't you just do something as simple as this. Just move your hand down onto her shoulder and wake her up. Come on Gar, do it. You can do it Gar, just reach inside yourself and pull upon you courage and just touch her shoulder." After a few moments went by he cursed himself again, "Come on Gar, just do it. Ok, on the count of three, and no pussing out. Ok then: one, two, three."
And as he started to reach his hand down for her shoulder, the last sound he wanted to hear came to him, a deep voice that he knew so well he could, nor would never forget it. If today were the last day he heard it, it would ring in his head as clearly then as it did now. It was the voice of Beast Boy's best friend, Cyborg.
Victor Stone, or Cyborg as he was known to the public, was an imposing figure. Standing nearly 6 and a half feet tall, his bald head towered over everyone else's in the tower. Cyborg was the strongest of the Titans, due in no small part to the new mechanical implants in his body. Three months ago the Titans discovered that the parts in Cyborg's body were deteriorating, and even worse, if no cure was found then he would die. With the help of his father and Batman they had designed new implants for Cyborg to wear. The new implants nearly doubled the dark skinned teenage hero's strength, and added about an inch to his already impressive height.
And right now all of that size and strength were staring at Beast Boy as he entered the living room with a loud greeting.
"Hey yall. What's up?"
His eyes then found Beast Boy and the guilty look on his face. Cyborg had no idea of what Beast had been planning so of course he assumed the worst, and wished that his best friend had included him in the fun. Cyborg's mind raced and he decided the best way to get back at the green fur ball was to bust him.
"Beast Boy, get away from Raven and let her meditate, you know that when you pull whatever you're gonna pull she's just gonna knock you around again." Cyborg made sure that he said these words loud enough to get through the mental shield that Raven put up to block out the noises of everyday life within the tower.
And upon realizing that Beast Boy had been intending on pulling yet another dumb prank on her while she was in the middle of a meditation session, she snapped. Her floating body turned and the look on her face was enough to stop a charging bull elephant.
"Damn it Beast Boy," the lavender haired girl yelled at him, "why can't you just leave me the hell alone? Why do you always have to try to pull some dumb stunt? Just LEAVE ME ALONE." The force of power that emanated with those last words was nearly enough to knock the poor boy over, but not quite. He was forced to put his hands above his head and brace against it however.
And when he raised his head to look at those violet pools of liquid that floated above her tiny nose, all words were lost to him. As he looked at her face he was captivated by the pale girl's beauty. The flawless face the glared at him in anger made Beast Boy's poor heart stop, not even the rage that shone on her face diminished its beauty, and for the life of him he could not stop staring at the beauty of the girl in front of him.
The other two missed this however and only noticed that the changeling was starring off into space, and this only served to increase Raven's anger.
"WELL?" The voice cut through Beast Boy's cloud filled mind and brought him back to the present, "Do you have an explanation for your actions or were you just bored again and decided I would be an easy target?"
Beast Boy had no answer for her and just looked at her with a slight look of defeat and remorse on his face. But while Raven did not notice it Cyborg did, if only because he had been with Beast Boy many times when his plans had been foiled.
"Hey um grass stain, you ok?" Cyborg's voice held that note in it that told Raven without words that perhaps the green prankster had not been planning on trying something.
Raven glanced first at Cyborg then at the slumped form of Beast Boy, a quizzical look on her face. She finally asked, "Wait, Beast Boy, were you not going to pull some dumb prank on me?"
Beast Boy looked up at her and seemed to be unable to make words for a moment and then said, "No, I was just umm…, gonna ask you a question. B-But it's ok I figured it out, a-and that's why I didn't interrupt you. So I'm gonna go to my room now." And with that the green changeling took off out of the main room, running as hard as he could for the sanctuary of his room.
The two remaining Titans exchanged a long slow look before Cyborg broke the silence asking the question that was on both of their lips, "Umm, did that seem somewhat odd to you at all, or was it just me?"
"No, it wasn't just you. I wish I could read him, but ever since Nightwing taught him how to shield his emotions I haven't managed to read anything from him." The dark silent warrior had the same quizzical expression on her face that her silvery companion did.
"Sooooo, wanna see what I got for mah baby?" His eyebrows rose several inches in anticipation of busting out his new car part and explaining to her in intricate terms how it worked, where it would go, and how he was surprised that they had lived with it up till now. He didn't expect this to work but he had a little secret up his sleeve, something that he could use to get her to listen to him for at least a few minutes.
And so when the expected "Nuh uh" came he responded almost casually.
"But Raven come on, just this once, since it's nearly my birthday and all?"
"No Cyborg. I already got you a present, and you are not going to guilt trip me into sitting down and listening to you lecture on about some technological drivel. And that's final."
"Now Raven just hear me out, I know that you have no interest in listening to me talk about this, and I'm sure you got me a great present, but what would really make me happy would be if you were to just gimme a few minutes. I promise it won't be more than that. Please. PLEASE."
Cyborg attempted to give Raven a puppy dog look but failed miserably, this was one of the few areas where Beast Boy had Cyborg totally defeated. Indeed, Beast Boy's puppy dog face was known far and wide for its ability to melt anyone's heart. And if that didn't work then he could always just go to his last resort, the kitten face. To date single person had been able to withstand the full power of the kitten face, not even Raven. He may have only used it on her twice, but when he she could not look at him and say no, it bugged the hell out of her, and confused Beast Boy to no end, but she just couldn't
Raven looked over at Cyborg, her face a mask of serenity, "You're not going to quit bugging me about this until I give in are you?" Cyborg shook his head vigorously. "Alright fine then. But you only have 30 minutes, so I suggest you get to explaining."
Cyborg gave a whoop of joy and sat down to explain the intricate workings of the tiny, but very powerful subwoofer to Raven. Even though she had made a show of not wanting to have anything to do with this she smiled inwardly at the joy that lit across the metal behemoths face as he told her about his new and most favorite toy. Raven and Cyborg had an almost familial bond, an older brother and a younger sister, albeit an older much less mature brother. She knew that Cyborg loved her with all of his heart, but not in any sexual way, he cared for her in another way, and that made her feel safe. Having a group of people that cared for made her feel wanted, something she hadn't felt before.
Starfire was like a younger naïve sister, but a younger sister with immense strength. Raven had seen several times were people played on that that naivety and it had led her into some bad areas. Raven had been the one who had explained childbirth and sex the Starfire, and how there were different kinds of love in the world. It had been Raven who had watched as Starfire fell for Nightwing, only to have him never make the move back to her, even though he felt for her as strongly as she felt for him. And it had been Raven who had explained to Starfire that she just had to give the thing with Nightwing time, and if something was going to come of it, only time could make it, not a spell as Star had suggested.
Nightwing was in many ways exactly like Raven, but in many he was very different. He had her cool intellect as well as her seeming detachment from the emotional world. He had not always been like this, but since Richard had dropped the title of Robin and taken up the name of Nightwing, he had become somewhat aloof to the rest of the Titans, something that bugged Raven to no end. The biggest difference between the Boy Wonder, she would never stop thinking of him as this, and herself, was his heartless drive. It was something he had learned from Batman, his mentor, and as he aged he became more and more like the caped crusader. Raven watched as he transformed, and it tore her apart to think that the person so like her, so like a twin to her, was changing forever.
Beast Boy had no place to her on her little list; he was a prankster, a class clown. But even as he was that he was growing up, he didn't really pull those dumb pranks anymore, only on special occasions. And he had amazed her recently with depths to which he could go in conversation. More startling than that was on more than one occasion she had stared deep into his eyes and become captured there, unable, and unwilling, to move. She had thought on it long and hard and decided that it was just because it had brought her to a near meditation like state. But still, despite the fact that he didn't fit into her family list, it didn't mean she didn't care for him as much. Sometimes she thought she cared more for him than any of the others. It was him that always made her laugh, he was the one who could make her stop crying, and he was the only one who had told her more than once how much he really cared for her.
And so Raven sat through the lecture which lasted a whole 34:46, but she didn't care, the smile on Cyborg's face was more than worth it.