Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
A/N: This story was inspired by a picture given to me by ObeliskX and requested by the same author.
For information on how to view the picture it was inspired by, go to my profile page. Check it out and please review. Hope you enjoy the story.
The Training Session:
"Alright Titans, it's that time again." Robin stated excitedly.
All the Titans (except Raven, as she simply didn't care) groaned in unison.
"Yep! That's right! Time for our Daily Training Session!"
"Aww man, why do we gotta train everyday? I was gonna make my supreme meat sandwich and beat my all time record of eating it in a minute!" Cyborg complained
"I, too, hate the training of the daily but if Robin says we must, than we must!" Starfire enthused
"Th-thanks, Star." Robin said gazing lovingly towards her.
"It is the no problem, we are the friends and the friends mustn't fight!" She exclaimed
"Fr-friends...r-right.." Robin muttered under his breath miserably. He looked up only to see Beast Boy smirking at him. Darn his advanced hearing...
"So are we actually going to train or just sit around whining about it?" Raven chimed in, her voice perfectly monotone.
"Yeah! Alright let's do this!" Beast Boy cheered racing inside the weight room followed quickly by Robin, with the other Titans sluggishly trailing along.
Beast Boy walked up to the heaviest weight and turned to face the other Titans with a cocky smile in place.
"C'mon guys don't look so sad, it's just a little training, it never hurt nobody."
With a wink directed at Raven (who blushed and pulled her hood firmly up) he then bent down and attempted to lift the weight.
"Gaaah! Urgggghhhh! Mmmmphh!" He tried in vain to pick it up, his noises of struggle prompting Raven's lips to twitch in an almost smile. She enjoyed watching his torment in a futile attempt to impress her. Lately, the two had been growing closer and Garfield's conversation becoming more and more flirtatious towards her. She couldn't deny it gave her little thrills to know that he had a crush on her. Despite her many outward attempts to ward him off, she secretly liked the attention and didn't want it to end. It wasn't long before she began to return his affections, not that she'd ever tell him so. But with her father's influence gone, she started to have hope for a future relationship with a certain green changeling...
Raven was swiftly pulled from her thoughts when Starfire ran up to Beast Boy.
"Oh, friend Beast Boy allow me to assist you." She then easily lifted the weight all the way above her head, leaving Beast Boy dangling five feet from the ground.
"Gah! Star!" He shouted before morphing into a kitten and releasing his grip, dropping to the ground on all fours.
He quickly stood up and not so subtly glanced Raven's way, praying she hadn't seen. Of course, she had and was clearly fighting back a smile. He internally groaned but then grinned. Hey, at least he made her happy! But he still had to save face.
"Pssssh, that weight was too slippery, I couldn't get a good grip! Star only could cuz she has her special Tameranian armor skin! But, uh, I'll get this one for sure no problem!" He said flexing his (nonexistent) muscles and strutting over to the second heaviest weight.
Spitting in between his hands and rubbing them together, he then bent down to touch his toes, and did some side stretches. Cyborg watched the whole display while fighting back giggles. The little green bean couldn't possibly hope to pick that up!
"Hah! BB, don't kid yourself! Let me show ya how a REAL man does it." He then bent down and with a slight grunt he lifted the weight with ease. Beast Boy watched in awe and then huffing he turned away grumpily.
"Why don't ya go work on that little weight over there? It's perfect for ya!" Cyborg taunted pointing to the smallest weight in the room designed specifically for Melvin, Teether, and Timmy to use on one of their many visits. Beast Boy unaware that he is being teased, smiles brightly.
"Yeah Cy, you're right!" He then runs over to it and turns back to make sure Raven is watching. Instead, he finds her running the treadmill, clad in only her leotard. He watched transfixed for a moment before a voice next to him spoke, "Beast Boy, you're drooling." Robin said with amusement in his voice.
This snapped him out of his trance and he quickly defended himself.
"N-no I wasn't!" Yet he turned away and tried to subtly wipe his mouth with the back of his hand.
Facing back towards a laughing Robin he strived to take the embarrassment from himself and direct it at his tormentor.
"Oh yeah? Well at least I wasn't watching Star for five minutes straight like a creepy stalker! Dude, were you even breathing?!" Beast Boy exclaimed laughing at the outrage on his leader's red face.
"J-just get back to training already!" He said angrily walking off to find a less obvious location to view Starfire in peace. In his eyes, she was perfect. So cheerful, and beautiful, and he had never met anyone like her in all his years of crime fighting. However, Robin was horribly insecure and completely oblivious, and thus, he repeatedly missed every hint that Starfire threw at him. She was starting to get fed up with his cluelessness and was plotting to take matters into her own hands, soon enough.
Meanwhile, Beast Boy turned his attention back to the baby weight. Cracking his knuckles, and with a determined look on his face, Beast Boy bent down and tried to pick up the weight. It was heavier than he'd anticipated, and he wrestled with it for a moment.
"Ugh, cmon! You got this, you can do this!" He chanted to himself.
"Urggghhhhh! Ooof!" He dropped the weight, narrowly missing his toes. He then sighed and sat down on the floor with his head in his hands. He wasn't strong like Starfire, or all manly like Cyborg, he was just...him. A goofball, an annoyance, and worst of all-a green bean. The others were right to taunt him, he was the weakling of the team.
Little did he know, a certain concerned empath was watching him beat himself up over the stupid weight. Sighing with all the regrets she knew she was sure to have later, she walked over to a weight near the depressed green boy. She bent down and pretended to struggle with it for a moment, hoping to snag his attention. He didn't move. She then moved to a slightly closer weight and did the same thing, waiting for him to look up. The boy didn't even flinch! Fed up now, she picked up the weight with her powers and slammed it into the ground.
The resounding thud resulted in the entire team dropping what they were doing and turning to face her.
"Are you alright, Raven?" Robin questioned with a raised eyebrow. Temper tantrums were unlike her unless Beast Boy was involved and he wasn't near her. The confused leader awaited her response with concern.
"I'm fine, just got a...little carried away." Raven responded, slightly embarrassed at her actions.
Her leader nodded and returned to eye-stalking Starfire. The Tameranian was performing some sort of dance that involved what looked like a lot of very questionable positions. Boy Wonder's eyes were popped out of his head and rolling around on the floor in glee. Raven, having spoken with Starfire the night before for one of their "girl talks" knew that this was the Tameranian Love Dance. The dance was an old Tameranian tradition that women used to seduce their lovers on their wedding night. Aside from the ceremony, it was essentially what made marriages official. By watching, Robin was unknowingly promising to be Starfire's husband. Raven internally laughed, it had been her suggestion and Starfire had jumped upon hearing it. She figured she'd tell the poor boy later, after they were already wed.
Interrupting Raven's train of thought, Beast Boy came over to see what was wrong.
"Hey Rae, what happened?" He questioned hoping she wouldn't throw him out of a window for probing into her business. Surprisingly, she took a step closer to him and feigned a look of helplessness.
"I-I, um, I couldn't lift this weight by myself that's all, no big deal." She said shrugging and looking off to the side, trying to look sad. Beast Boy noticed this and panicked, a sad Raven is not something he ever wanted to deal with.
"Uh, um! Maybe I could help you? Lift the weight, that is...?" He stated nervously.
She smiled at him and replied in as sweet a voice as she could muster (which was more like a depressed Starfire tone), "That'd be...nice." She looked up at him affectionately.
He felt his heart melt inside his chest and stuttered out, "N-no problem, Rae" then turned towards the weights. As he observed them, he noticed they were fairly light weights. Hey! So even Raven, the strongest girl Beast Boy knows, can't lift these small weights! Slowly his ego inflated once more. He dared to try something foolish, figuring he'd already escaped death once today. He put his arms around her.
"Beast Boy! Wh-what are you doing?!" She stated all flustered.
"Just helping you pick up the weight like you asked!" He exclaimed with a huge smile on his face. Raven contemplated smacking it off of his face and flinging him out of the window, but she soon realized, she liked having him holding her. So she kept her mouth shut to see what he would do.
Together, they slowly bent down and lifted the weight. Though Raven did most of the lifting, but she let Beast Boy believe he was helping her because of her unfortunate crush on him. After holding their position for a moment, they gently set the weight down and turned to face one another.
"Thanks, Gar." She said in the awkward silence following their little moment.
"It was no big deal, besides, what is a big strong man like me good for if he can't help his lady out, right?" Suddenly Beast Boy realized what he had said, that she was his lady. Uh oh. He closed his eyes and braced himself for a punch that never came. Instead, he felt a warm pair of lips press themselves onto his cheek. Stunned, he stood still for a few seconds before opening his eyes. Raven was already at the door to the training room. She smirked back at him, and walked right out. But not before uttering two words that made his heart beat out of his chest.
"My hero."