A dumb oneshot I thought up while listening to Ben Folds at midnight a few days ago.
I don't Teen Titans. :)
You Don't Know Me
Raven stood on stage, completely frozen with fear as all eyes in the room rested upon her expectantly. Her violet eyes were darting back and forth from grinning green changeling to the microphone in his gloved hand as he waited. Everything seemed to stand still in that moment, as if the softest sound or the smallest movement would cause the mounting tension in the air to shatter. Even the empath's heart seemed hesitant to beat. Finally, she reached out and grasped the microphone between her thumb and index finger, her hands trembling as she fumbled with the device. She raised it to her mouth and took an uncertain breath...
Earlier that day...
"C'mon Rae, it'll be fun," Beast Boy called as Raven headed toward the common room.
"Absolutely not," she replied evenly as she reached the door.
"Everyone will be there though."
"And that is precisely why I will not be attending, end of discussion." With that she reached for a teapot and began to heat her water. Beast Boy had been pestering Raven to try and get her to go to a karaoke party at Titans East for the past three days, but his efforts thus far had proven fruitless. While the empath had no qualms with music itself (she played piano on occasion whenever the other tower occupants had left for the day, but they had not caught her in the act to her knowledge.) performing was an entirely different beast that she refused to face.
"Robin, help me here," he pleaded, turning to his leader, "Please."
Robin quirked his eyebrow, slightly surprised by Beast Boy's unwillingness to drop this subject. "Beast Boy, please give it a rest. You've been at this all day and if Raven doesn't want to go then you can't make her, it isn't mandatory to take part in the party, however," he added, turning to the half demoness, "We'd really appreciate if you came."
Raven paused for a moment and seemed to become lost in thought before responding. "Alright, I have changed my mind. I will come, but I will not sing or drink alcohol and you," she said, pointing an accusatory finger at her purple clad irritant, "won't be allowed to bother me for two weeks at the very minimum. Got it?" Beast Boy nodded hurriedly. "Good."
Beast Boy pumped his fist triumphantly. "Hell yeah," he shouted before checking the clock. "Shoot, I gotta change." He rushed back to his bedroom to put on his specially made civvies and brush his unruly forest green hair.
Raven looked up and saw that the time was nearing 5pm. She poured the steaming water into a grey mug and steeped her tea before returning to her room to find something normal to wear.
She emerged a half hour later wearing black jeans and a dark blue tee shirt. Raven also had traded her combat boots out for a pair of light blue vans and her cloak had been replaced by a white zippered sweatshirt.
Beast Boy also happened to be leaving his room at this time and turned to see his team mate as she headed toward the garage. He gave her a broad smile as she approached him.
"Rae, I didn't know you even owned normal clothes," he mused as he looked her up and down.
"Well if it wasn't for Star, I probably wouldn't," she replied as she eyed his attire. "I didn't know you were into that type of clothing," she added.
"Pretty badass right," he said as he leaned against the wall. He was wearing a white tee shirt under a black leather jacket with blue jeans, a pair of worn convese, and a pair of silver tinted aviator sunglasses.
"You look like an Outsiders reject," she replied dryly as she stopped in front of him. He gave a playful smirk before responding.
"Well you look nice anyway." Then the green teen turned tail and jogged off before the stunned sorceress could respond. Raven felt the tips of her ears burn at his words and shook her head in disbelief.
'Did he just... no, there's no way he meant it as a compliment, I probably took that wrong.' She shook her head of the thought and continued to the T-Ship. Sometimes she felt like such a ditzy schoolgirl, letting her hormones get the best of her. 'He can be sweet though,' she heard one of her emotions say as she walked on. Raven blushed a soft pink, but for whatever reason, didn't feel that it was necessary to protest the statement. She had come to terms with the fact that somewhere within herself there existed a desire for the changeling and his attention, but she had decided that it was best not pursue such things for fear of rejection.
At the party...
Raven stood off to the side, making small talk with Jinx as Wally gave a shit-faced rendition of "Can't Help Falling in Love" for the fourth time in the last two hours. After he had finished, he dove off of the stage and was met head first by the hard concrete.
"I have a feeling we won't be hearing that song a good three hours," Jinx remarked as they watched several teens crowd the front of stage where Wally had disappeared just moments before.
"If at all," Raven affixed as he was carried off to the medbay over Herald's shoulder.
"Good riddance, I hate that damn song."
Raven snorted with amusement. "You're not at all worried about your boyfriend," she queried.
"Nah, he'll be fine tomorrow. Wally's done shit leagues worse than busting ass on the front of the stage while wasted and has always managed to get by without a scratch."
"Okay, I'll take your word for it."
Meanwhile across the crowd...
"Ok BB, everything's ready to go, now all you gotta do is get up there and do it," Cyborg whispered as Robin strode in from behind the temporary stage that the extended Titans had set up on the concrete behind their tower. Said teen took a deep breath and steeled himself for the impending event. 'It's now or never, time to make my move.'
He clambered up on stage and put on his most flashy grin as he approached the microphone.
"Hey there ladies and germs, ex-villains and villainesses, half robot men and half demonesses, adn whatever the hell else y'all are, it's finally time for the main event." This statement raised several eyebrows around the room. All in attendance (barring three members of Titans Central, Titans East, and Beast Boy of course.) had been led to believe that the karaoke was the main event, but they were soon going to find that they were very mistaken.
"And what the hell would that be," somebody exclaimed. Beast Boy's confident facade seemed to slip a little before he retorted.
"Me."
Now everyone was extremely confused. (Save the few that were mentioned previously.)
"We're not here to just goof off ya know, we're also here to celebrate the one year anniversary of our defeat of the Brotherhood of Evil, and since it was my idea to have this little get together of all the Titans, Cy, Robin, Star, and Titans East, our gracious hosts, decided that it'd be only fair for me to embarrass myself in front everyone to thank you all for coming out."
Raven was astonished and ashamed. Astonished that Beast Boy had arranged this event and had offered to make himself look like a fool for entertainment, and ashamed because she had adamantly refused to attend such an important anniversary for her friend. She watched with curiosity as Cyborg wheeled a baby grand piano out on the stage and set up a mic to pick up the chords that would be played. 'Beast Boy can play piano?'
"Now it was my intention to sit up here and perform a set of songs, but unfortunately I don't have even the slightest fucking clue how to play this damn thing," he jested as strode over and smashed down a sour chord. The audience laughed and his grin widened almost exponentially. Raven senesd that he was incredibly pleased with himself, but she also noticed something raised several alarms in her head. She perceived a strong aura from mischief him as well.
"But fret not dear friends, for their is one amongst us who can finger the ivories with the skill of a prostitute fom New Orleans, but she's very shy," he paused for effect, "so I want you to embarrass the hell out of her!"
Dear Lord.
"Please welcome Raven from the Central Teen Titans!"
The distinct sound of shattering glass could be heard from within the Tower as all eyes turned to the startled girl who became a dark shade of crimson in return. There was but one question that came to mind at that very moment.
'How did he know that?!' She could not come up with a single instance for the life of her of when he heard her play the keyboard that sat against the wall in the living room. Cyborg had bought it a few years ago, intent on learning the instrument, but admittedly never really got around to it.
"Raven plays the keys?" Jinx said incredulously as she eyed the demoness.
"Like a god," The changeling replied simply. Raven shook her head violently at this statement. "Oh, c'mon, don't be modest, you're fanfuckingtastic and you know it."
A deep rumbling could be heard deep within the crowd. It seemed to lack a distinct sound, but as it rose in pitch and volume, a single word could be heard forming.
"...rrrven, rrven, rven, raven, Raven, RAVEN..." and so on and so forth. At its peak, the chant was a violent roar that shook the windows in their panes an deafened the poor girl as she awkwardly pushed her way to the front. Beast Boy pulled her up on the stage and made a quick slashing motion that caused the crowd to fall silent.
Back in the present...
She raised the mic to her mouth and took an uncertain breath. 'Oh God, I don't know what to do.'
"Hi," she said, her voice wavering with timidity.
"Aw, Rae don't be bashful, you're gonna kill it," Beast Boy reassured. Raven disagreed strongly, but thought that it likely wouldn't be the best option to argue in front of her peers who all knew and respected her for her power and level-headedness.
"Whatever you say." Raven headed to the bench of the piano and sat down.
"You ready to play?" She nodded quickly.
"What'd you have in mind?" She asked, her voice still edged with anxiety.
"Ben Folds, you know him?" He displayed knowing grin, very aware of the fact that he didn't even need to ask.
"Of course," she groaned under her breath. Of course he knew she owned his entire discography and played his music the most often. She felt very nude on stage as the crowd stared at her in total astonishment, even the original team couldn't help but gawk at the odd pair.
She wanted to die right then and there.
Beast Boy was tickled pink, everything was falling perfectly into place. He turned to Raven, who was still very much red and embarrassed, and mouthed "Army." She nodded and ran a trembling hand through her violet locks. Beast Boy began to sing and she came in with the opening piano riff.
Well I thought about the army
Dad said son you're fucking high
And I thought yeah there's a first for everything
So I took my old man's advice
Three sad semesters
It was only fifteen grand
Spent in bed
I thought about the army
I dropped out and joined a band instead
Every single person in the audience's mouth was agape in shock. Never in their short but eventful could they have ever imagined Raven, the scary, quiet, half demon to be the type who played an instrument, much less a piano, and enjoy music in general, much less Ben Folds, but there she was, sitting on a bench, playing a fairly difficult piece with the skill and ease of a concert pianist. Surprised doesn't begin to cover what they were feeling.
Grew a mustache and a mullet
Got a job at Chick-fil-a
Citing artistic differences
The band broke up in May
And in June reformed without me
And they got a different name
Nuked another Grandma's apple pie
And hung my head in shame
Oh no
I've been thinkin alot today
Beast Boy was another story. His notes were pitch perfect and had a nerdy quality to them that was similars to that of the artist. In short, his perforing skills were also very unexpected. They both were dead on with each other and Raven played in perfect tempo, making the audince question whether this was all rehearsed or not. But it wasn't.
I've been thinkin alot today
Oh, think I'll write a screenplay
Oh, Think I'll take you to LA
Woah, think I'll get it done yesterday
Aw shit
Raven proceeded to play a whimsical riff that really showcased her dexterity and intense concentration. She made sure that the tempo stayed at that of the original recording and never rushed or became slow and lethargic. Beast Boy danced in place next to the piano, awaiting his cue. Finally it came and he launched ito the final verse.
In this time of introspection
On the eve of my election
I say to my reflection
He threw his head back and shouted the next line.
God please spare me more rejection
Cause my peers, they criticize me
and my ex wives all despise me
Try to put it all behind me
But my redneck past is nipping at my heels
Been thinkin alot today
Been thinkin alot today
Been thinkin alot today
If Raven had been looking at the green teen beside her, she would have seen that goofy smile that engulfed his face as he stared at her from a few feet away, his eyes glimmering as her hands raced up and down the keys, she did however feel the strong admiration and affection that radiated from his person. She didn't quite know who it was directed at, but she envied them to no end.
I thought about, your mommy
The empath's eyes snapped open at the last line and she accidentally played a rather unpleasant note. She glanced over at Beast Boy, and giving him a small, playful grin, she mouthed, "What the hell was that?" He just shrugged in return and walked over to help her to her feet.
The audience still stood in stunned silence as the interaction occurred, and then as Raven stood, a cheer quickly rose up from the crowd. They walked to the edge of the stage together, both blushing so deeply that it hurt. Beast Boy still had the nerve to wave to the crowd while the older girl stood silently, her head bowed bashfully and a small smile played across her pale features. They both exited off the back of the stage and were greeted by a bone crushing hug from Starfire.
"Oh friends, that was most glorious!" She squealed, her arms wrapped around both, who were currently gasping for air.
"Star- air," was all Beast Boy could choke out. She released them both and began to apologize vehemently which they both readily accepted, but it did not cease her rambling.
"Wow B, I'm impressed, didn't even know you could hold a tune." Beast Boy only shrugged in response to the back handed compliment. And then Cyborg turned Raven with a massive smile. "I cannot believe you now, tryna play it off like you didn't think you were good, man cut that shit out, you ain't slick. Damn girl, gimme a hug." Then Cyborg reached out and gave Raven a hug that would give Star a run for her money. If Raven wasn't crimson before, she sure was now.
Robin could only shake his head at the pair who were still high off adrenaline and colored with embarrassment. "I can't believe you managed to keep a secret from me Raven. Well done. Anything else you two wanna confess to me," he teased.
"Well, there is one thing." And then Raven turned to Beast Boy and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before taking off full sprint toward the T-Ship. This time, even Beast Boy was in shock as they all stood still as statues, watching her retreating form.