Basically, this is a collection of possibly interconnected- but still able to stand alone- oneshots about birthdays around the Tower. Not original, I know, but still kinda cute, right? Anyhoo, there'll be fiveof them (since there are five Titans)sothis is Robin's birthday, and... Um, that's it. Oh my gosh, I think this is the shortest author's note I've ever written! Wow...

D/D time...

Disclaimer: Well, gee, would I even be writing this if I actually OWNED the Teen Titans? I think not...

Dedicated to: Tecna 'cause she's the bestest beta ever! I could probably think of some more reasons, but I'm to damn tired to think of anything...

Blow Out the Candles

Birthday One

Robin: Pancakes

by: angelus abyssi

Happy birthday to me… Happy birthday to me… Happy birthday, dear Robin… Happy birthday to me… a masked Boy Wonder sang to himself as he walked slowly through the halls of Titans' Tower, heading in the general direction of the kitchen. He was the first person up this morning, as per usual, and planned on taking advantage of that. His mind was already concocting beautiful visions of all the breakfast goodies he could make this morning… And no Beast Boy in the kitchen meant no guilt trip for having bacon and sausage and eggs and pancakes and waffles and warm syrup and a tall glass of chocolate milk… Well, maybe some of those things wouldn't earn him a lecture on the evils of meat, but Robin was too far into his mouth-salivating daydreams to take much notice.

As he neared the door that separated him from fulfilling his fantasies, Robin became aware of something. A very good-smelling something. Something that possibly involved chocolate… and maybe butter… and syrup… Sniffing the air again, Robin nodded to himself. Yes, definitely syrup… And it smelled like it was coming from the kitchen… This observation caused him to hurry past the door and into the joined dining room/kitchen/living room.

As he hurried past the table to find the source of this mouth-watering scent, he glanced at it briefly and then did a double take. There, in the middle of the table, sat a plate of pancakes in all their buttery and syrupy glory. Upon closer inspection he discovered that they had chocolate chips in them. Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you, whatever breakfast god is smiling down on me! Pancakes… Robin silently whimpered as he drooled over the pile of them on the table.

Even as he started to wonder who the fluffy morsels belonged to, he noticed a piece of paper that had been folded in half sitting next to the plate. Picking it up, he saw the three typed words and uttered silent yelp of joy. Happy Birthday, Robin. That was all it said. Glad that he lived in a tower of such thoughtful teens, he sat down and began covering his plate with the warm maple syrup sitting in a medium-sized ramekin beside his lovely pancakes. He put one bite in his mouth and paused to savor the flavor, tears of utter joy streaming down his face. Robin quickly swallowed the bite and began shoveling them into his mouth as fast as humanly possible.

When he was half-way done, Cyborg walked into the room with a large yawn stretched across his features. Then suddenly he froze with his eyes shut in his also frozen yawn. Then turned towards Robin. And sniffed. The cybernetic man opened his eyes and let them focus on Robin, who had a forkful of pancakes comically frozen halfway to his mouth, and his pancakes. Then he rushed over and eyed the sweet bits of bread. "Do… Do I smell pancakes?" he asked unnecessarily. His eyes were watering up in anticipation of the chocolate-containing flapjacks.

Robin's eyes widened and he hunched protectively over his plate. "Mine," he growled, giving his friend a look that clearly said the breakfast wasn't going to be shared.

"But… but… but they smell so good!" the half-man, half-robot howled in jealousy.

"Mine," Robin hissed again before he started practically shoving them down his throat again.

Resigning himself to making his own breakfast, Cyborg watched in mild fascination. "Don't hurt yourself, Rob," he joked as he walked to the refrigerator and pulled out the orange juice.

Unsure of what else to say, Robin just settled with repeating himself once more. "Mine…" he muttered. The other boy just laughed.

Cyborg brought the container of orange juice to his mouth and tilted his head back just as the Raven walked into the room. He saw her look at the container and glare at him, but he just grinned at her and continued to try to drink from the carton. Strangely, nothing came out. He could feel the weight of the liquid shifting back and forth in the carton, but nothing was pouring into his mouth. He pulled it away and looked into it, only to see a layer of black blocking the path to his mouth. Now he looked up and glared at her.

"It's unsanitary. Go get yourself a glass," Raven ordered him simply. She then seated herself across from Robin. "I want one." I wasn't a request, and she wasn't asking. She was demanding one of his beloved pancakes, and he took great offense to this. They both heard their metallic team member give a derisive snort, hardly giving a thought to the possibility that maybe she would succeed where he had failed.

"But… Mine…" Robin whined. For some reason, it was much harder to deny her than it had been to deny Cyborg. Maybe it was because she hardly ever requested things from him, but it didn't matter right then; the only thing that mattered was that it was getting damned hard not to share his darling pancakes.

Raven paused and gave a quick look to the doors, the windows, and finally Cyborg, just to make sure no one else was watching. Then she turned back to Robin and stuck out her bottom lip and gave him the cutest puppy-dog look he had ever seen. "Please…?" she begged softly.

Eying his friend reproachfully he made a motion for her to sit beside him and pulled a pancake off his still large stack and put it to the side. She quickly moved to his side of the table and grabbed the fork she had magically zoomed from the drawer. Taking a bite, her reaction was much like Robin's had been, only with out the tears. "Vey're goofd, arven't vey?" he asked her with a mouthful of chocolaty goodness. She nodded vigorously and glared at the spot her now-eaten pancake had been. Surprisingly, Robin put another in its place. She looked up at him, and returned the syrupy grin he gave her.

"Whoever invented mornings sucked," said a groggy Beast Boy as he walked through the doorway. "Pancakes!" he suddenly screamed in delight and tried to push Raven out of her seat so he could get to her pancakes.

"Mine!" roared both Robin and Raven as the former continued to eat and the latter gave Beast Boy a death glare, partly to keep him away from their breakfast but mostly because it was fun.

"EEP!" the changeling hollered as he jumped away. "I'll just… make some eggs or something," he muttered, his eyes going back to the half-asleep look they had held before the sighting of chocolate chip pancakes.

Cyborg then looked up. "Hey, you shared with her, but you didn't sha-" he began, but was interrupted by Starfire bursting into the room.

"Oh, good morning, my friends! Isn't the shining of the sun glorious on this day?" the alien princess said in her usual exuberant manner. "Good morning, Friends Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Robin! I- Um, Robin, what is it that you are sharing with Raven? It smells most delicious, and seems to be asking me to taste of it…" she hinted obviously.

Raven chose this moment to wipe her mouth with a napkin that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and then somewhat-regretfully declined Robin's silent offer of more pancakes. "Sorry, Star, but I bullied Robin into giving me some. I doubt he even shared with anyone else this morning. Besides, he hardly has any left, and you don't want to steal his precious pancakes from him, do you?" Raven said in false innocence.

"Oh no, that would be terrible of me! Robin, continue eating your cherished cakes of pan. I will not take them from you!" she declared, before flying over to the kitchen to prepare some culinary disaster- most likely involving mustard- for her own consumption.

Robin noticed that Raven was looking around warily again, much like she had before making the face that convinced him to share with her. When she was satisfied that no one was watching she turned back to him with a smile on her face. "Happy birthday, Robin," she whispered with an unexplained blush staining her cheeks. Unexplained until she did what she did next, of course. Which was lean forward and press a quick kiss to his cheek. He turned to her in shock, but she just smiled at him and hurried from the room.

Once Robin had finally finished his pancakes, which had taken him far longer than anyone else had taken to eat their breakfasts, he trudged over to the sink and washed his dishes in order to waste time until everyone else had left the room. He then sat back down in his seat at the now vacated table and reflected on his meal. His previous idea had been that it was a collaborative effort of the whole team to prepare his delicious pancakes, but it seemed as if that was untrue. For the most part, they had been in shock when they discovered the wonderful smelling meal, and the same percentage had seemed unaware of the significance of the day. Only one hadn't gone off her hinges at pancake sighting, and the same one had been the only one to wish him a happy birthday. Considering the fact that he knew that he himself hadn't made the chocolate-filled morsels, that left only one option.

Raven had made his pancakes. And they had been good. Not burnt masses of moving, black goo, but real pancakes. Real! And then she had up and kissed him! It had certainly been a memorable morning… He suddenly realized something. She had really set the stakes for a good birthday present, what with the kiss and the god-like pancakes and all. If he didn't start planning now he would never come up with something in time for her birthday! After all, he only had four months left…

Okay, I'm tired, it's taken for-freaking-EVER to get this up, and it's almost two in the morning. Granted I usually go to bed pretty late, but it took too damn long to get this up. Be grateful, alright? And looky there... I'm using real page-breaks this time. Aren't you all so proud? You know, there's something that I swore I was gonna say down here... and now I can't remember it. Oh well. Maybe I'll remember for the next chapter or birthday or oneshot or whatever the heck I'm supposed to call it...

Ciao i miei amici

angelus abyssi