Disclaimer: The Teen Titans are the property of Warner Bros. Animation, DC Comics and Cartoon Network.
Her dark cloak billowed behind her as she sat on the roof of the Titans Tower. Well actually she was levitating but she wasn't about to get technical. Far off, Raven heard the sound of the clock on the tower in front of City Hall strike eleven. She sighed. It had been a full thirty minutes since she had come up here and she still had yet to meditate. 'Focus… focus… concentrate,' She normally would have Robin's music or Beast Boy and Cyborg's continuous bickering to thank for her lack of concentration but ever since she had given Robin a pair of headphones last Christmas, the loud, thumping music had stopped. The arguing she had tried to stop, first through reason, then through fear. Both had worked. For about 20 minutes. However Cyborg was in the garage and Beast Boy was in his room, doing God alone knows what, last she checked so that wasn't it either.
Another strong breeze blew past the empath and she felt herself savoring it. Closing her eyes she let the wind ruffle her hair, feeling its gentle touch as it danced along her skin. She loved the fact that Titans Tower was on an island in the middle of Jump Bay instead of its city. The stifling heat and constant city noise would have driven her insane a long time ago.
Insane.
The peace and quiet of the Tower was not the only thing keeping her sane, she realized as she gently lowered herself onto the cold cement. "Without friends your mind must have…" Star had tried to reason when recounting her experience with Warp. She hadn't finished the sentence, she didn't need to. Raven could imagine what would happen to her if she lost her friends. Pretend as she might that she was independent and that she found them to be immature, irresponsible and reckless, truth was she didn't care. She'd probably never repeat it again but she had meant what she'd said in the library that day, she had made wonderful friends, and she was determined to keep them.
The dark girl turned at the sound of the roof door opening. Her amethyst eyes met masked ones. Robin. She offered him a small smile, one just a little bigger than the ones she offered Cyborg as a form of greeting. The former acrobat or so it seemed from what she had seen in his mind, grinned back before gently closing the door behind him He took a seat next to her on the edge of the roof, sitting Indian style, hands behind him to support his back as he gazed up at the night sky. Raven shifted slightly, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her cloak around herself.
"It's a beautiful night." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, trying to assess where he was going with the comment but Robin kept his eyes locked on the sky above them.
Seeing no harm in indulging him the small talk, she let herself reply "It is. We don't get many nights like this." She figured he would get her reference to their unusual day off and confirmed it when she heard a small snort followed by a comment about the peace and quiet not lasting from the boy wonder. They fell silent again, each lost in their own thoughts. Or so she assumed.
"We missed you at dinner." He was looking at her now, a sly smile gracing his features, "Don't worry, I saved you some."
Her eyebrows furrowed together as she tried to recall the chores schedule they had set up a couple of weeks after banding together. "It was Beast Boy's turn to cook today, wasn't it?" Robin's smile widened.
"Thanks," Raven deadpanned, glaring at him albeit half-heartedly. Truth be told, tofu bacon or not she was actually looking forward to a nice hot meal. He gave her the most innocent "You're welcome," he could manage and turned his gaze to Jump City. She shook her head before turning away as well, the corners of her mouth turned upward in the barest hint of amusement.
They sat in companionable silence for awhile listening to the sounds of the city they had become the official protectors of. They had all come a long way since the first days of the Titans. She remembered a time when she found it ironic that the girl destined to bring about the end of the world was one of its protectors. She shook her head. There was no need to go down that road again. Her days of living in fear of Trigon's shadow were over. Her friends had helped to make sure of that. Her eyes landed on her leader and she found the corners of her mouth twitching again.
Raven shifted as she felt a dull pain make its way up her spine from having sat on the unforgiving cement for so long. She needed to consider getting Cyborg to build some kind of massage chair for her. She could always claim it was to help with her meditation.
She could feel Robin's attention on her as she twisted her body left and right, trying desperately to work out the kinks. He gave a raised eyebrow when her neck popped audibly. Ignoring him, she took one final breath of fresh air and slowly started to rise from her seated position. If she wasn't going to be able to meditate she might as well head inside, she figured. Besides she was starting to get really hungry and that meal was only going to stay hot for so long.
She had barely straightened up when the alarms blared. Her brooch flashing red as it emitted small beeping noises. She looked over at Robin and found him standing as well. He was looking at her again with that sly smile plastered back on his face.
"What'd I tell you?" She allowed an actual smile to grace her features this time as she watched him walk past her, so much for their unusual day off.