HEY! BRAND NEW STORY! Well here's the first fruit of our hard work, so hope you enjoy! Look out for future chapters! Remember to share your thoughts! Thanx! SmokinLeech Bitter sweet cinnamon Chapter one

"Robin, could you pass the mustard my way." The alien girl asked sweetly.

"Sure, Star." The mask leader smiled back, pushing the large tube of mustard towards her.

"Bet I can cram more waffles in one bite than you, grass stain!" Cyborg taunted, waving a syrup soaked waffle in front of Beast Boy's face.

"No way man! I can totally kick your butt!" he challenged back, prodding his own tofu waffles with his fork.

The breakfast table was full of activity, as it always was in the morning. The usual bickering between Cyborg and Beast Boy, the guzzling sounds of enjoyment Starfire made as she ate her mustard drowned waffles…well they were once waffles, Robin noted with a small smile.

He let his eyes fall away from the rest of the group to the serene dark girl sitting contently, her delicate hands encircling the mug in her hands. Even though she wasn't watching the scene around her, you could still see that she was at ease by her surroundings, her face relaxed, eyes looking deep into her herbal liquid.

His eyes traveled down to her plate, noting that she had only eaten half. Raven always ate her waffles plain. She never was one to add extra flavours to her food. She said that if you smothered your food, you would lose its original taste. At first he never understood her, him being a fan of experimenting and trying new things, yet lately he was starting to understand her deeper meaning.

"But don't you want to try something sweet once in a while?" He let slip without realizing, taking not only Raven by surprise but himself as well.

"W-what?" She asked, confused.

"I…uuh…" He started; the question was out, he would at least like to know the answer.

"Your waffles. I know you like them plain, but haven't you ever thought of …experimenting every now and then?" He asked awkwardly.

She looked down at the plate in front of her, looking as if she was contemplating his words, then finally looked up at him with a plain look on her face.

"No. Not really."

"Just once?" He tried again with a humorous tone in his words.

"Nope."

"I'm sure there's some part of you that longs to taste something different…you could use a little sugar." He said, the sides of his mouth twisting into a devious smile.

The glare she gave him could have made anyone's blood run cold, but he was immune to it.

"Pass it here, let me show you." Syrup in one hand and a serving of ice cream in the other, he distributed them lightly on top of her half-waffle. Seeing the slightly distraught look on her face made him give a slight chuckle. "If you don't like it you don't have to finish it, but at least try it."

She hesitated for a minute, just staring at the fork he held, the oozing liquids falling into the plate. He saw her hesitation and added, "Would you like me to feed it to you?" His smile getting wider.

Raven, thinking he had enough fun for one morning, snatched the fork away, and put it into her mouth, swallowing fast.

"Aaaaand?" he asked expectantly.

"Its…ok. But I still prefer plain." She said without changing her expression. With that she rose, clearing away her mug and plate, and headed for the kitchen.

He watched after her, there was no use trying to change her mind. The thought made him smile to himself, same old stubborn Raven. The sounds from the team flooding back into his thoughts.

"Friends! Seeing as it is such a glorious day, I was thinking that we could, how you say, have an outing? Does this appeal to you?" Starfire proposed eagerly, her emerald eyes going from one teammate to the next.

"Uuuh…pass." Beast Boy replied simply. "I'm on the 53rd level of 'attack of the blood sucking porpoises', I can't abandon it now!"

Starfire's smile faded ever so slightly at his decline to her request, she turned hopefully to Cyborg and Robin. "Will you two accompany me?"

"Well…I." Cyborg started, trying to find his way out of the situation, avoiding her sad eyes. "I was planning on work'n on the T car, it needs some tune-ups." Even though they all knew the car was already in perfect condition.

"The car and game can wait, guys. It is a great day outside, and Star's right, we should take advantage of it." Robin stated in his leader tone of voice, so they knew they couldn't back out of it."

"Fine." Cyborg and Beast Boy sighed simultaneously.

"Wonderful! I am so glad!" She squealed in delight, bouncing up from her seat. "I shall prepare a picnic feast!" She beamed, turning and floating swiftly towards the kitchen.

The three titans exchanging perplexed looks, only imagining what her feast would contain this time.

TTTTTTTT

"So…Why am I here exactly?" Raven asked in her usual deadpan voice, closing the car door behind her, squinting at the harsh glare of the sun in the clear blue sky.

"Well, we haven't had a chance to go out and relax lately, and today seemed perfect, ideal weather, don't you agree?" Robin smiled as he stood next to her, watching the other titans unpacking the T car, and making themselves at home nearby the lake. "Nice to be out of uniform once in a while too."

"Yeah…I think I'll go find a dark bit of shade under a tree somewhere though." She added sarcastically, starting to head towards the dense mass of trees at the further end of the park, when he snatched away the thick novel she held in her hand, holding it out of her reach. He chuckled loudly as he watched her fumbling to get her book out of his grasp.

"Robin, I swear I will-"

Ravens anger seemed to vanish when the cheerful red-head came bounding up behind her, extremely happy to be in the warm sun light, her yellow summer dress twirling as she went.

"Friends! Join us in playing the bee with frizz!"

The two birds merely blinked in confusion, until Robin finally smiled, "I think you mean 'frizz-bee', Star." He corrected.

"Yes! That is what friend Cyborg said…so would you join us?" She asked again, the same hopeful look on her face.

"Sure." Robin looked to Raven.

"Uum…you know what? I think I hear my tree calling me." Raven said, raising her eyebrows, giving a quick, small smile.

"C'mon Raven, we've been through this before, you'll end up having fun with us in the end, anyway." He smirked widely, holding the book higher as Raven tried to grab it back again. "I don't see why you would call head injuries from a flying disk 'fun'' She stated matter-of-factly.

"Please friend Raven. It wouldn't be as much fun if you did not play." Starfire said, standing directly in front of her dark teammate.

Knowing Raven would not win this argument, she just sighed and unwillingly agreed with a slight moan.

TTTTTTTT

It flew inches away past her face; she didn't even flinch. The circular disk was immediately surrounded by black energy, stopping in its tracks and flinging back with force to Beast boy, who barely managed to catch, due to its high velocity. "Sheeze Raven! Trying to kill me!?" Beast boy cried seeing an evil grin upon her face. "You're cheating anyway!" he pouted.

"Well we didn't complain when you decided to go Rover to catch, ya' little grass stain!" Cyborg countered, snatching the frizz-bee away from him.

The game carried on normally and Raven was started to lose interest, and her reflexes were not as sharp anymore, hoping to escape silently.

"Robin! Heads up!" Cyborg yelled, thrusting the disc forward at an alarming pace. Robin, always wide awake, sprung in the direction of the frizz-bee, determined to catch it.

He had always been trained to be aware of his surroundings, yet he hadn't expected raven to be in his path. Before his mind could register, he had knocked into her with a harsh thump! Pushing her onto the ground with him.

Once he regained his vision, he saw a very confused and flustered Raven trapped beneath, eyes wide with shock. He could feel her arms tucked under his chest, his hands lying on either side of her head, and their faces not far apart. Her breathing was sharp and quick, maybe that was due to his heavy weight on her.

It was then he realized he was still on top of her. "Oh!" and quickly scrambled to his feet, offering an awkward hand to help her up. He could feel a slight heat in his cheeks.

"W-watch where you're going boy blunder." She stammered with a tiny nervous smile, dusting the dirt off her jeans, and straightening her black V-neck jersey.

"Sorry 'bout that Rae…didn't see you there." He said, dusting himself off too. Then noticing a stray leaf tangled in her violet hair. "You got a…uh…here, let me get it." He reached over, detangling the foliage from her locks. Smiling as he did so.

"Yo Robin! You're meant to catch the frizz-bee, not fall on the other players!" Cyborg mocked, laughing loudly. Robin could feel his faint blush coming back, but managed to keep from showing it.

They carried on playing for a while, Robin always checking where he was going and Raven making sure to stay out of his way.

The titans eventually got bored of throwing a disk around and decided to give it a rest. Cyborg and Beast boy stood nearby the still lake, skimming small pebbles across its surface, mocking the other's bad throws, and laughing. Starfire sat close by where they were, gingerly lying on the grass, creating small daisy chains with the delicate daisies around her.

Raven was finally acquainted with her shady place under the huge oak trees that shadowed along the side of the lake. She felt his presence before he sat down next to her, casually stretching out his legs and lying back, folding his arms behind his head.

She laid her book to one side, just gazing straight ahead, then turning to glance at him.

He was holding one of his bare hands close to his face, almost…examining it.

"So what does your future have in stall for you?" She teased, breaking him from his thoughts.

"What? Oh. Just probably some bruises and scars for the next two weeks." He joked back, playing along.

"Let me take a look." She commanded gently. He let her take hold of his hand, feeling her cool touch on his skin.

Her fingers lingered over old cuts that had sneaked past the protection of his gloves. She subconsciously traced them lightly with her index finger, feeling their roughness.

She came to a light scar running across the side of his hand. "You healed that one." He smiled, his eyes closed as he remembered. "Oh yes, after I had told you not to jump over that barbed wire fence." She teased him again. "Well someone had to stop that guy!" He said huffily. She grinned and carried on.

She traced a tiny bit lower, watching for his reaction and as he didn't move he obviously didn't object. So she traveled down his forearm, around his elbow, when she noticed a reaction from his skin- goose bumps…

"Are you…cold?" she asked suspiciously, looking back at him.

"Uum…no." He said, still in a slight daze. "Why?"

"Just wondering." Putting it aside, fingers slowly pacing again, gliding on his light skin, but came to a halt as she felt another rough scar, this time much bigger than the last. She could feel him go rigid, and she could guess already what had caused it before he moved his lips.

"Slade." He scowled, eyes easing open through the mask he still wore.

She couldn't think of anything to say. It was a touchy subject for Robin, and it was best to avoid talking about it.

She kept her hand in place, continuing stroking his skin gently. Taking her by surprise he took her hand in his, putting her palm against his, looking at the size difference and smirking.

"Girly hands." He teased playfully. She gave a mild scowl, turning her gaze to their hands and tracing the contours with her eyes. Robin slowly let his fingers slip a fraction to the side of hers, causing their fingers to intertwine with each other. She gave him a questioning glance.

"Girly hands." He repeated with a smirk.