Adorable
Author's note: Hey, it's been a while, I guess. So, here's another new one which was kinda a 'spur of the moment' idea. I swear, I've tried to come up with a fluffier one compared to what I have written, so… Here goes!
Disclaimer: Again, I needn't show it to you in words. But, 'Tales of Mysteries and Imagination' by E. is mine.
"Cute: Ugly but adorable."
It was a pleasantly sunny day in Jump City, California.
The sun was sky-high in the ever blue sky, surrounded by the white cotton-liked clouds which were constantly moving at a slow pace by the wind's gentle tug. The sunlight illuminated the city beneath it, lighting every dark corner there has to be, and bringing life to the city itself.
In the city, car honks could be heard as traffic begins to pile up as the clock continues to tick; the crowd growing rapidly on the sidewalks as each rushed to their respective destinations. Business were busy as always; office men and women dropping by the coffee shop to pick up some extra caffeine; teenagers rushing off to fool around before the school bell rings, signaling the end of their freedom until after school hours; housewives buying groceries at their local supermarket while their kids ran around the shop, being watched by bemused individuals.
Now, this little city was blessed in its own ways, mainly because they housed the group of teen superheroes on an island just beyond the shoreline. The Teen Titans had been with them for nearly five years, and still lived to 'serve and protect'. Of course, the crime rate continues to prosper each and every day, what with petty theft and murder, even villainess villains carrying out their villainess plans. But, no matter what happens, if the local PD couldn't handle it, there were at least better (and powerful) generations to lend a helping hand.
You might think superheroes would be out fighting villains and bad guys all day, but everyone deserves a break now and then, even criminals.
Thus, it is why Raven happened to find herself alone, in the Titans Tower common room, sitting on the comfortable sofa, with her lukewarm Earl Grey tea on the seat beside her, and an Edgar Allan Poe book in her hands.
Seeing as it has been at least three hours since any criminal activity has been reported, the dark-haired Titan leader suggested that they should take the day off, seeing as the next day would be another hectic day (of course, any day was a hectic day, especially to the ever-paranoid Robin). Before Robin could state the terms and conditions, Cyborg and Beast Boy has practically zoomed out of the common room. It just so happened that there was a Gamers Convention at the nearby mall, and they had both been dying to go for years, but couldn't (seeing as Robin insisted that every morning was Obstacle Course Day, they barely had the time to go out). And, at the near mention of the mall, Starfire immediately pounced on them, tagging along for some clothe-shopping.
That left both the paranoid and emotionless in the Tower.
Knowing there was nothing to do in the tower (he had finished all the reports that needed to be filed up after each catch and quadruple-checked everything), Robin decided to go into town as there seems to be some small celebration going on at Martha's Bakery, and had invited Raven along, as he finds it slightly irksome that she always locks herself up in the tower instead of going out and enjoying the day. Raven, though, being Raven, said she had some reading to catch up to, and had declined kindly. With the knowledge that no matter how you beg her, she still wouldn't oblige, he went alone.
And here she was. Alone, with her tea and book, in the T-shaped tower.
She was currently reading the 10th story of the palm-sized book, The Premature Burial. The story fascinated her as it describes of numerous revivals by several victims after they were presumed dead by their loved ones. Besides, she had been a Poe fan long enough to know that she actually enjoys reading his work. They were mentions of the gothic days of France, of the society in which he had lived in, and in almost every story, reflected what the author himself was going through at the period a story was penned.
'The lady was deposited in her family vault, which, for three subsequent years, was undisturbed. At the expiration of this term, it was opened for the reception of a sarcophagus – but, alas! how fearful a shock awaited the husband, who, personally, threw open the door. As its portals swung outwardly back, some white-appareled object fell rattling within his arms. It was the skeleton of his wife in her yet unmouldered shroud.'
She could just picture the whole scene in her mind: the husband, a man of around the age of 40, making his way through the dark corridors of the underground walkway beneath the house. The creaking sound the vault doors made as he opened it, and the crackling of bones as his wife's skeletons fell on him, her skull looking up at him through hollow holes.
She sipped some more tea, and continued reading as the story grew intense.
'A careful investigation rendered it evident that she had revived within two days after her entombment – that her struggles within the coffin had caused it to fall from a ledge, or shelf, to the floor, where it was so broken as to permit her escape…'
So deep was she into the book that she did not notice the figure looming behind her until a white, furry object was dropped between the pages of her book.
She blinked for a while, letting the words fade away as her eyes left the paragraph, before her mind began to take in the object that had miraculously appeared before her eyes.
It was a rabbit. Or a bunny, give or take. Its ears were both tilted down until it was almost touching the head, its black-buttoned eyes gazing lifelessly at her, with that small light pink nose and slight bucktooth showing through the small mouth. If you were to let it stand, it would've look as if Raven was turned into a bunny, again.
She was clueless for a moment as to why such an inanimate object was presented to her. But as she was inspecting it with curious eyes, Robin walked around the couch and plopped down next to her unceremoniously, making her jump slightly in her seat. Surprised, she switched her gaze towards her leader, which made her eyes widened even more.
Robin was dressing casual, with a blue collared Polo T-shirt and black jeans. He was wearing sunglasses, albeit as Raven was looking at him, he removed the accessory and was staring at her through his crystal-blue eyes. He noticed that she was staring, clearly still not used to seeing him without uniform and mask, and couldn't help but smirk.
Catching the smirk, she quickly drew her sight away from her cocky friend and gazed back to the toy at hand. She was still perplexed at its presence and finally mustered up the courage to ask without blushing. "What is this?" she asked monotonously.
He chuckled slightly, knowing how confused Raven was (and could see the slight blush of her cheeks no matter how she tried to hide it), and decided to answer 'honestly'. "Can't you tell?" he asked, feign innocent.
She frowned slightly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him, "It's a rabbit." Again with the monotone.
"Well, it's a bunny, actually. Usually, we refer to these furry little creatures' lifeless clones as 'bunnies' instead of rabbits, since rabbits would basically make us think about the unhygienic, black or grey rodents living in the wild. No, I would say what you have in your hand there, is, in fact, a bunny." He pointed out smugly, his chin tilted towards HER.
She scoffed ungracefully – doing so only in the presence of either said Boy Wonder or her brotherly Cyborg – and gave her head a slight shake before getting back to the 'bunny'. It was giving her the look that toys usually give when you hold it in your hands. She was still searching for words to further pursue the source of its existence when Robin interrupted.
"Well, as I have happily mentioned this morning, Martha's Bakery was celebrating its 6th anniversary and there were lots of fun games going about. Somehow, this old woman had talked me into playing 'throwing the ball into the moving buckets'. And just so you know, I was in cognito there and seeing as I was bored as someone didn't tag along," at here, he gazed slid towards Raven, who rolled her eyes, "I relented, and got lucky."
He could tell by the slight slacking of her jaw and widening of her eyes that she barely believed a single word he had said. She turned back towards the innocent-looking bunny and back to him. "Got lucky, as in 'I managed to score every bucket' lucky?" she asked, raising a brow.
"Well, no… Look, the buckets were really moving fast, and it would be impossible for a normal human being to score each one of them. And I am trying to not get noticed there, so I had to tone down a bit… though I was kinda itching to show off." He said, after a moment's thought.
Raven kept quiet, looking at him for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she pursed her lips and gaze back at the bunny, the light reflecting off its button eyes.
"So, how it is?" Robin asked, a small grin on his face.
She was confused, "How's what?"
He laughed, "The bunny. Fine, likeable, okay… What do you think?"
She looked at the bunny, with its ears bent down as if in a relaxed state, that small nose of its, and the two bucktooth just begging to be noticed under all those white fur. And last but not least, the furry tail.
She blinked for a moment, contemplating her answer. In the end, she said, "It's… cute."
Robin was taken aback. "Cute…?"
She nodded, "Cute."
"That's it? Cute as in 'ugly but adorable' cute or 'appealing or attractive' cute?" He questioned, slightly amused.
She glared slightly at him, a small tilt on her rarely-smiling lips. "'Adorable but adorable' cute."
"Hmm," he replied, his hand under his chin, as if in thought, "like you, I presume." At this, his gloveless fingers touched her cheeks slightly before he got up and headed straight towards the door without a backward glance.
Raven, taken by surprise by the sudden action, sat with her mouth agape, her hand reaching up to touch her reddening cheek. Her eyes kept switching from the seat he vacated and the toy in her hand, blinking non-stop. She huffed a small breath before setting back against the sofa, flipping to the page she last read, and holding the fuzzy white bunny towards her chest.
Before she reread the paragraph, she thought to herself.
Robin happened to be acting strangely kind towards her lately ever since he accidentally found out that the resident empath had a slight crush towards the Boy Wonder.
Author's note: There you have it. Hope you enjoyed it.
Please review!