"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
"NO WAY ROBO-COP!"
"Friends, must you truly behave in…."
"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME!?"
"YOU HEARD ME METAL MAN!"
"Come on friends! There is no need to be so rude!"
"WHY YOU CHEAP-TOFU-EATING-GRASS-STAIN-LAME-EXCUSE-OF-A-GUY!! HA! I WON!!"
"HEY! THAT WAS JUST UNCALLED FOR!"
"Beast Boy and Cyborg, do not treat each other so… harshly… you're friends…" Beast Boy and Cyborg were standing next to each other, arms crossed and looking in opposite directions. Raven had been sitting down on an opposite couch reading and sipping a cup of tea when it all started. Robin had also been sitting close by listening to music at such a volume, as an attempt to drown out the fighting duo, that his headphones were visibly shaking. Raven and Robin sighed at once. They looked at each other as a way of asking Should I or should you? They both shrugged and stood up. Starfire was currently standing in between Beast Boy and Cyborg trying to keep them off each other, but at the same time trying not to hurt them.
"Ok, that's it! Break it up!" Robin got in the middle of the two guys as Raven pulled Starfire out gently and helped her get her hair into a slightly more organized mess. Robin had by then sat down Beast Boy and Cyborg and was waiting for an explanation. Raven let Starfire sit down and went to stand next to Robin.
"What is wrong with you two? You usually argue while playing, but not like this. You might sulk, but not try to get at each other… what's going on?" Cyborg sighed and Beast Boy looked down at his feet.
"I know, and I'm sorry Cy. We've just been stuck in here for a whole week! It's summer, and every summer the bad guys basically take a vacation, but we don't! I'm not saying we need to pick up and go on a trip, but we could at least ditch the uniforms and go out!"
"Yea, I'm just tired of the same thing… sorry BB. But seriously, we defeated Trigon, we stopped the end of the world, then we defeated all the villains when they were united, and now there's no one left… we deserve some fun…" They looked at each other and shook hands, then looked up at their leader. Robin turned to Raven and she knew he was looking for her to help him out. She could also tell that he was trying to peak into her mind to see if anything the two guys had said had in any way upset her. He was the only one who knew that Raven had been slowly changing since that day when the world had almost come to a halting end. She was even letting herself slowly adjust to emotions, but was keeping that a secret from the rest of the team. It was through their bond that Robin had been able to register different feelings in Raven, and he had to admit he was glad about that. And Raven knew it.
"I think… we can hook up our communicators so that in any case of an alarm, we'll know what's going on and I can teleport us back right away. That way, we can go on a road trip or something." She was looking at Robin the whole time trying to find approval for her idea. She had to admit, that even though she wasn't one to usually get annoyed about having to stay in the Tower, lately her new-found ability to give in to her emotions, was letting her see just how boring sitting around could truly be. Suddenly, a purple and orange blur flew right in the middle of the four Titans.
"That sounds like an amazing idea friends! I believe we should go to a place where it is green and tree-filled! Or to one covered with the little crushed ice!"
"YEA! Hiking and then skiing!" added Beast Boy. With that, Cyborg started rambling about all the things they could do, and then more rambling followed from Beast Boy and Starfire. Raven and Robin grunted in unison, then looked at each other and laughed.
"I guess we need to pack for anything that comes our way…" said Raven, suddenly realizing that Robin had moved closer to her and was standing just a few inches away from her. Her heart started speeding up and she was having a tough time keeping her thoughts together. Wow, what's going on? Robin smiled at her, but she knew he had no idea what she was thinking or feeling. She had closed her mind to him to try to control herself.
"Yea, guess so. Where do you think we should go?" Raven took a deep breath before answering.
"Um… for a rain forest and hiking, we could go to the Caribbean, considering we went to South America a while back… hey, so we did have a vacation…"
"No, we were following someone that time… don't remember who though…"
"Oh yeah, ok, well, Puerto Rico has a rain forest and nice beaches. And I think I read somewhere that they have those bays that light up at night when you move the water!" Without realizing, she had opened her mind when she let her excitement fill her. She'd always wanted to see one of those. Robin smiled at her and she realized that her hands were clasped in front of her and she was floating a few inches off the ground. She controlled herself and continued talking.
"Then, we could go skiing… Beast Boy can pick the place, since he knows more about those things. Then we could stop in New York and go shopping. Starfire will like that… I'll go look it up now, but I think there is a martial arts convention… somewhere on the east coast. I'll find out and let you know so that we can be there when it happens. And I guess that's it…" She couldn't stop looking up at Robin and noticed that she kept looking between his eyes and his lips. She mentally slapped herself and forced herself to look away, yet she couldn't. Then she realized that he was looking at her the same way. His eyes stopped over her lips and stayed there as he answered her.
"That all sounds great. But, what about you? What is it that you want to see?" His question took Raven by surprise and her eyes widened slightly at the thought.
"I want to see the bay in Puerto Rico… but I'm not sure if there's anything else… I'm happy with everything that we're planning to do." She looked around the room to notice that they were in fact alone. She quickly scanned the tower, and noticed that the rest of the Titans were in their rooms. Getting ready no doubt. She looked back up at Robin, who had somehow managed to get closer to her. She saw a thought she couldn't decipher flicker across his mind as he wet his lips, before he shut her out. She blinked hard at the action and took a small step back.
"Sorry, Raven! I didn't mean to!" He reached out for her hand and held it. She shuddered at the contact and he smiled.
"No… it's ok… not…" she exhaled quickly as a sign of frustration and he chuckled. She glared at him and he stopped abruptly.
"I mean it's ok. Don't worry about it." She smiled and he relaxed. She couldn't stop thinking about his hand on hers.
"Well, we'll go to Puerto Rico first. We can spend a few days there, and we'll figure out where to go next from there. But, you have to let me know if there's anything that you want to do that pops into your mind." He realized he was still holding on to her hand and let go with a blush. He turned away from her to hide it.
"Ok, but you have to do the same with me." Added Raven as she walked in front of him. His eyes widened and he smiled.
"Sure thing, Rae." She could tell that as soon as he said her nickname he worried she would get angry. Instead she surprised him by smiling.
"Go get ready then, we've got a lot of planning ahead of us… Rob." His mouth fell slightly open and she turned on her heel and walked out of the room.
Wow, what's going on… she wouldn't usually let anyone call her Rae… and she never calls me Rob… and what is up with me that I feel like I need to be close to her!? Robin slapped his forehead and grunted. I need a cold shower to clear my head… and I guess I need to get packed up to go on vacation… Sweet! He walked out the same way Raven had and headed to his room with thoughts of Raven filling his mind.