Hi!
Oneshots, ahoy. I had a bunch of little ideas running around in my head and they weren't spectacular enough to have fics of their own, so here we are. I probably won't post here as often as I do on my multi-chaptered stories, but there shouldn't be any cliffhangers, as these are short but sweet oneshots. They'll probably range from 1000-3000 words, and I'll try to refrain from making all of them about Robin (the operative word here being try).
I keep forgetting to type out disclaimers. Whatever. As far as I know, there aren't any real rules that force me to write them, only obligations. Anyway, I don't own Teen Titans.
Focusing on Character: Robin
Wordcount: 1,692
Summary: Robin is good at detective games and is forced to explain to his teammates why he's such a BAMF.
Rating: K
"Dude, we should play board games. Or, or, or, we could watch a movie! No, a movie marathon! Wait, we could have a party!" Beast Boy was bursting with excitement and practically bouncing off the walls of the Main Ops room.
"We have one night off, and you want to have a party." Raven stated blatantly, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Please, what are these 'games of the board' that Beast Boy speaks of? I wish to play them." Starfire floated up and turned to face Robin and Cyborg, a puzzled expression gracing her soft alien features as she leaned forward, more or less invading their personal space bubbles. The half-robot and the acrobat's eyes widened with surprise.
"Board games are games that are played on a board, like chess." Robin summarized, relaxing slightly.
"No way! Chess is boring. Leave it to Mister Serious Leader to take the fun out of a simple game night." Beast Boy somehow managed ignored his leader's batglare, causing the Boy Wonder to scowl even harder as the green changeling placed a hand on Starfire's shoulder. "We need to play awesome board games, like Yahtzee, or Scene It, or Life, or-or-or-" He was cut off by his mechanical friend.
"We get it." Cyborg successfully ended the changeling's incoming rant, where he would have sunk into the depths of 'Beast Boy-forgot-how-to-shut-up-land', as the Titans had not-so-fondly dubbed it. "I'm fine with playin' board games today. What do you guys think?" He turned to face Robin and Raven.
"Sure." The Boy Wonder replied happily. Cyborg raised an eyebrow at Raven, who merely glared in return. When he just leaned in further, she gave in.
"Fine." The empath answered plainly.
"What board games do we even have?" Robin raised a masked eyebrow at Beast Boy, whom he knew had been planning something.
Beast Boy's face lit up and he pulled Starfire out of the room faster than you could say 'Titan Tower'. He returned a few seconds later, both his and the Tameranian's arms piled high with various rectangular boxes, wide grins on both of their faces. He lay them out on the circular table and the rest of his teammates gathered around (some floating, some walking) to see what he had brought.
"When did you find the time to buy every board game in existence?" Cyborg asked his green friend, who merely grunted in response. The Titans ogled over the wide assortment of boxes. They really did have almost everything: Scrabble, Yahtzee, Checkers, Scene it, Life, Clue, Monopoly, Cranium, Apples to Apples, Chinese Checkers, Twister, and, yes, Chess (although there was already a game started across the room where Robin and Raven had been playing earlier). Really, they had more than just those, but if one were to list them all, they would spend hours just typing them out.
"Why don't we just choose one already?" Raven asked her ogling teammates, bored.
"Uh... How 'bout Clue?" Beast Boy asked his teammates hopefully. The Titans contemplated this.
"I'm down with that." Cyborg replied.
"I do no know what this 'Clue' is, but I assume it is fun, and so I wish to play." Starfire replied cheerfully.
"Fine." Raven answered in monotone. The group turned to Robin hopefully. He looked conflicted.
"Uh, it wouldn't really be fair if I played. Maybe I can just... Watch?" The Boy Wonder asked hesitantly.
"What, do you suck at it or something?" Beast Boy assumed teasingly.
"Robin, why do you wish not to play the 'Clue'?" Starfire asked, frowning.
Cyborg leaned closer to Robin's face, causing him to step back in surprise. "Why wouldn't it be fair?" He asked seriously. Raven just floated up beside the half-robot.
"Robin's victory over us will be terrifying." The empath stated blatantly. All of the Titans, even Robin, blinked in astonishment. Raven thinks something is terrifying? That's the day where you kill whatever it is with fire. Unfortunately, nobody was particularly interested in giving Robin a slow, painful, flame-y death. Not even Slade.
"Uh, so what if you're really good at it? C'mon, play it anyway. Please?" Beast Boy stepped up to Robin and turned into with would be called green golden retriever, flashing his puppy dog eyes. After several seconds of continuous eye contact, the Boy Wonder finally caved. Even after having spent years with someone who handed out batglares like they were pancakes, he still couldn't ignore his green teammate's pleading gaze.
"Fine, I'll play, but don't say I didn't warn you." Robin stated in an oddly (but not uncharacteristically) serious demeanor as he helped his teammates clear Beast Boy's games off of the circular table. Beast Boy paused for dramatic effect before he slowly pulled the cardboard lid off of the 'Clue' box.
10 minutes and 5 Games later...
"It was Diana White, in the observatory, with the rope." Robin stated as he looked around at his surprised teammates. "Anyone going to prove me wrong?" After seeing four heads shake at the same time (the titans seemingly unable to form words), he gestured for Beast Boy to hand him the tiny orange envelope that the green changeling was currently closest to. Green gloved fingers curled around the aforementioned object as if was passed silently to him and and he reached into the small paper pocket to retrieve the three cards in question. Spreading them out, looked back at the board. "I win again." Robin placed the three cards on top of the board for his teammates to see. Though he had won, he didn't really seem proud of it. In fact, it almost looked as if he were mentally berating himself for doing something wrong.
"Raven, I'm scared." Beast Boy shuffled over and attempted to climb into empath's cloak, much to her dismay. She shoved him away and glared ferociously, a quiet growl escaping her lips.
"Man, I don't get it. All you did was stick around the pool for five games straight! You didn't start any rumors, and you hardly said anything to us!" Cyborg protested. "Is this game rigged?" He lifted up the game board and turned it over to get a look at the underside, effectively tossing everything off of the thin piece of cardboard. Starfire just appeared to be frozen with a confused expression on her face.
Raven looked more bored than shocked. "Told you it would be terrifying." She said in monotone.
"How are you so good at this game?!" Beast Boy exploded with curiosity.
"I-" Robin began
"Come on, don't give a stupid excuse. There are otherworldly forces at work here, and you need to reveal your secrets to us. Is this your superpower?" Beast Boy asked, his expression and tone dead serious.
Robin just frowned. "It was kind of, uh, part of my training." He stated quietly.
Cyborg looked confused. "You're saying Batman trained you to play Clue."
"B-B-Bat-Clue-" Beast Boy sputtered, falling over and literally rolling on the floor laughing at the thought of the dark and serious Caped Crusader sitting at a table, playing board games with a younger Robin.
"It teaches strategy and observation. At least, that's what he said." Robin explained hesitantly, not used to speaking about his former mentor to his teammates.
"That Batman's training for you included games of the board? Was this the only game?" Starfire asked quizzically.
"I, uh, played Clue with the league once. When Batman realized that it was good practice for my detective skills, he taught me how to do it properly." Robin replied.
"You didn't answer her question, Boy Blunder. Did he train you to play any other board games?" Raven asked in her usual monotone, a hint of an edge in her voice telling them that she was teasing her leader. After all, she knew exactly what Batman had trained him to do.
"Poker." Robin replied.
"Poke... Her?" Starfire asked, tilting her head to the side in puzzlement. She looked like a confused kitten.
Beast Boy wiped a tear from his eye. "Poker. It's a card game." The Tameranian still looked puzzled.
"You know what gambling is?" Cyborg asked Starfire. She nodded. "Poker is a card game that involves betting. They play it in casinos." He explained.
"Oh. I understand. I did not take you to be the gambling type, Robin." She stated.
"I'm not. It was just part of my training." He replied hesitantly.
"You're the only guy I know that was trained to play board games. Unbelievable." Cyborg mused, not necessarily insulting his leader, but poking fun at the fact that Batman had taught him to do such things.
Robin just smirked and put his hands behind his head, leaning back in his chair. "I beat you, didn't I?"
That was fun! Short, but fun.
If you have any ideas for future oneshots, just suggest them in the review box below. I have a bunch in my head currently, but I'm not planning on discontinuing this anytime soon.