8:36 PM
"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind…"
"Okay, okay," Robin said. "I get it, it was dark and stormy."
"It's Bulwer-Lytton," Raven said. "Not exactly the most concise of writers, even for a mid-Victorian."
It was, indeed, a dark and stormy night outside Titans Tower. Severe weather had sprung up, and, the Tower being ten stories tall and not lightning-safe, the power was out. Cyborg had shut himself down and was standing in the corner.
Without the Gamestation, Beast Boy had threatened to perform vile excretory acts unless he could be entertained. Surprisingly, the others were all bored enough to agree to be held to this blackmail—except Raven, who had said in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't be a part of such foolishness.
Therefore, the other Titans had tried talent shows. Starfire had tried dancing. It hadn't worked out exactly as the Titans had hoped. Evidently, no one had informed Starfire of the differences in… propriety between Tamaran and Earth.
Afterwards, Starfire blushed and hid under the covers in her room. Beast Boy seemed not to have minded, though, but when she left, he went back to sulking.
Robin had tried doing an acrobatic show, but halfway through his routine on a wire stretched across the large open space on the first floor, he'd slipped. It was painful. Raven had caught him on a none-too-soft plate of black energy.
But Beast Boy had been amused by that, too. The green Titan himself flopped fifteen performances, including games of Charades, spectator Monopoly (whatever that meant, Robin thought), tofu cooking challenges, belching contests, competitions for most animal transformations, and a performance of "Beauty and the Beast," with Starfire, who had returned from her room.
After this last, Raven had groaned and offered to read the Titans a story by firelight. Beast Boy had demurred, but Raven had whacked him until he'd agreed.
So, here they were, and Raven had gone through Frankenstein ("Boring!"), Dracula ("Unrealistic!"), Pit and the Pendulum ("What's that supposed to mean?"), Carrie ("Eww!"), and Lord of the Flies, which had put Beast Boy to sleep.
Now, Raven was reading something called Paul Clifford. Starfire was already visibly yawning, and Robin wondered whether or not this storytelling was really an excuse for Raven to put them all to sleep so she could have peace.
His stubbornness kicked in and he resolved not to lose, if that was in fact her intention.
11:14 PM
"...all these exhibits from the vegetable kingdom were attached to the seafloor by only the most makeshift methods. They had no roots and didn't care which solid objects secured them, sand, shells, husks, or pebbles; they didn't ask their hosts for sustenance, just a point of purchase. These plants are entirely self-propagating, and the principle of their existence lies in the water that sustains and nourishes them. In place of leaves, most of them sprouted blades of unpredictable shape, which were confined to a narrow gamut of colors consisting only of pink, crimson, green, olive, tan, and brown."
Raven glanced up. Starfire was draped over one couch, asleep. Beast Boy was drooling on the cushions of the other. And Robin… was still listening attentively. Annoyed, she turned back to her book.
"There I saw again, but not yet pressed and dried like the Nautilus's specimens, some peacock's tails spread open like fans to stir up a cooling breeze, scarlet rosetangle, sea tangle stretching out their young and edible shoots, twisting strings of kelp from the genus Nereocystis that bloomed to a height of fifteen meters, bouquets of mermaid's cups whose stems grew wider at the top, and a number of other open-sea plants, all without flowers," she read in the driest monotone she could manage.
She looked up again. Robin was still awake and looking at her.
"Shouldn't you be asleep by now?" she asked.
"I thought that might be your plan," he said, grinning.
"And I thought it'd work, too," she admitted.
"I'm too good for that."
She rolled her eyes and shut the book.
"Well then," she said. "I give up. I'm going to go meditate."
"And leave me down here?" Robin asked.
"Yes."
"Can I come with you? I've got nothing else to do and I'm not very sleepy. Promise I won't disturb you in the slightest."
Raven considered. At first thought, obviously not; her meditation was a private thing… yet she shared with Starfire, and Robin had much more in common with her than the Tamaranean. Just to list a few things, a dark past (which she alone knew of), seriousness, and a touch of mystery. And it wasn't as if Robin had ever been invasive of her privacy in the past.
"All right," she conceded. "Come with me."
Far off, certain incarnations of the forces of nature were puzzled and somewhat worried.
"I felt a great disturbance in the force, brother, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible, or wildly inaccurate, has happened."
"I, as well… Perhaps we should investigate, but where?"
"Let us hurry to Jump City."
11:52 PM
Raven hovered above the floor, eyes closed and legs crossed in her classic meditation position. Beside her, Robin was several inches below, sitting on the floor, also concentrating.
"Azarath… Metrion… Zinthos…"
They sat in silence, the fire crackling behind them softly, for a long time. Raven lost track of time. Maybe she'd even lost track of her presence, in a calm, collected state, the most relaxed she ever got.
Crash.
Boom.
She gasped and fell to the floor as a violent blast of lightning coincided with a shot of thunder. Robin jumped and twisted around in a single fluid motion in his signature 'Titans-go' stance.
As a result, Raven fell into Robin's arms, and her powers flared around her, engulfing objects, shattering windows, and gripping their minds.
The rain poured in. Raven tried to break away, but there was an odd connection between her mind and his, and her vision occasionally broke away to give her glimpses of Robin's thoughts.
The circus… a cave… a fall… a scream… a gasp… a criminal… a bat.
A sudden, overriding image came into focus. Half was a mask she recognized and hated. Slade. The other half was a mask she recognized but had never known. Batman.
She realized her mental barriers had slipped and she was probably transmitting as much as she was receiving… including…
"Robin," she said. "Snap out of it."
He shook himself, but looked up at her oddly.
"Raven… I'm sorry, I never knew…"
She stiffened. "You saw…"
"Yes," Robin said.
"You shouldn't," Raven said, standing up. "That's… that's my business, Robin. I'd appreciate it if you don't menti…"
"Raven," Robin said, and it brooked no interruption. "I don't like this. You do know that you have friends, right?"
"Yes, of course…"
"Then why don't you ever trust us? I have absolute faith in every member of this team…"
"And believe me, they're members, all right," Raven muttered. Robin stopped, and for a second she thought she'd gone too far.
Then, he grinned.
"All right," he said. "Maybe it's not exactly fair coming from me."
"Why pick now to mention that?"
"Well, to be honest," Robin said, "members."
"I always knew there was something funny about you."
"Ha, ha," Robin said, and reached up. In a fluid motion, he removed his facemask. Raven couldn't help but start a little.
"My name's Richard Grayson, but everyone calls me Dick."
"That," Raven said, "is so appropriate."
"Now do you see where I got 'members' from, though?"
"Well, yeah."
"My parents worked in a circus, I guess you know that. We were the Flying Graysons. I was part of the act as long as I could remember. One day in Gotham, I heard…"
He stopped and swallowed.
"A guy… Tony Zucco… was blackmailing the circus owner, but the owner didn't pay. That night… we were out doing our act and my parents were on the high wire. It snapped and I was watching and they couldn't do anything and they…"
He turned away.
"I know," Raven said. "Well, some of it."
"Well, all right then," Robin said, running his hand through his hair. "So then you…"
He stopped and fidgeted.
"Anyway," he said.
Raven smiled thinly. "Well, you just saw what my history is. My father Trigon was a demon. As you can imagine, he wasn't the nicest sort of guy and he forced my mom… anyway, so there was me. I grew up in a place called Azarath. While the others didn't necessarily shun me, they never accepted me because I was a half-demon. I left eventually so that they wouldn't be in danger from Trigon. It's going to come one day."
She sighed. "But you know, Robin, I'm happy here now, all right? It could be better, but it's been lots worse."
"All right," Robin said. "So…" He raised his hand and then he lowered it. He began to pace, then he stopped.
"I know it's not exactly the kind of life that leads someone to be outgoing and social. Still, you don't have to isolate yourself all the time."
Raven's eyes flashed. "Yes, I do. You don't understand how volatile being half-demon makes me. You can't understand. It's an essence of chaos."
They both looked away in an uncomfortable silence.
"I know I don't understand how your powers work. I don't have to understand. I just know that you're a good friend and I wish I knew you better," Robin said.
"I can't," Raven said. "Emotions are dangerous."
"Is there anything worth it that isn't?"
"Robin…"
She stopped. The rain pattered down on the windows.
"Don't be a stranger, Raven," Robin said finally.
There was a crash of lightning and a roll of thunder.
"Something fishy this way comes, brother," said Lightning.
"Indeed," said Thunder. "To Jump City!"
Crash.
Boom.
"Good night," Robin said, turning to the elevator. Raven's eyes followed him there, his words still echoing.
"Don't be a stranger."
Impulsively, she went towards him. She was going to embrace him and that was all. But he turned to say something more and they were on different heights and they were…
Their lips met. Raven felt an explosion go off in the back of the room, but it suddenly faded.
"Great Scott!" shouted Thunder as half of the Tower's roof blew off in a flurry of black energy.
The two Titans sat in stunned silence. As she'd expected, she recovered first.
"That," Raven said, "was your fault."
He looked nonplussed.
"Well, I… hey…"
Then, he grinned.
"You wanted it," he said. "You liked it."
"I did no such thing. Who would want something like that?"
"Countless girls, that's who," Robin said.
"Count me out."
"Fine, maybe I will," Robin said.
"Fine yourself." Okaaay, Raven thought. Bad comeback.
Robin slipped on his mask and turned to the elevator.
"Crazy, bellicose, over-dramatic madman with delusions of grandeur," Raven said, entirely audibly.
"Icy, antisocial, misanthropic, pessimistic arrogant lunatic," Robin said, waiting for the elevator to ding.
"Wow," Raven said. "I thought your entire vocabulary was 'Slade!' and 'Starfire!' and 'Titans, move!' and such."
"That's more like it. I didn't recognize you without your whining."
"That's funny, I didn't recognize you without your mask. Then again, I suppose no one expects a normal-looking person to have on a costume like that."
"And no one expects an ill…" Robin cut himself off. "Never mind, Raven, it's just too cruel."
"Even for you. That's impressive."
Ding. The elevator doors opened.
"Oh, no, cut off in the middle of repartee. I'm crushed. Or rather, I wish I were, talking to you."
"I can help with that¸ if you want. One quick chant and I can have the Tower collapsing on your head."
"That'd be real bright, collapsing the tower on top of yourself."
"Better than you. Your costume's brighter than you are. But then again, it's about as bright as the sun…"
"You know what the sun is? I didn't know you'd ever seen it before," Robin said.
"I didn't know you could understand such a complex concept."
With a swish, the elevator doors closed again. Robin looked over.
"Yeah, yeah." He stepped into the elevator. "Uh… sorry about that whole…"
"Right," Raven said. Robin nodded at her.
"Raven…"
"What?"
"You still haven't done dish duties…"
And with that, the elevator closed and moved upwards. Raven glared after him.
"Believe me, I'll get you back for that," she said.
Crash.
Boom.
"Are we interrupting?" asked Thunder.