The storyline that I have created and the original character are my creations. The rest of the world is not mine and I do not take any credit for it.
I'll have made edits to the first chapter by the time this has gone off. If you're continuing from my previous chapter (unlikely, but I'm grateful!) I recommend a quick re-read if you haven't done so already.
I started writing this chapter years and years ago and was keen on it being in the third person. However, I'm having trouble writing it that way now and will likely change it to a first-person style of writing with the blonde man being the person doing the telling.
There was an interesting swirl of colors. Hues of blues and reds swam together mixing and separating at their whim. There were sunsets and sunrises all happening one right after the other. It was surprising, however, to see a whirl of green.
The blonde man suddenly jolted awake. He looked around frantically, not recognizing where he was. The room was only dimly lit, but it was still foreign to him. The sky blue walls and the view to the bay was surprisingly spectacular, but lacked in something in particular. It was then that he realized; he was in that tower.
His friends had abandoned him and there was nothing he could ever do about it. Actually, they didn't just abandon him; they fed him to the Titan Menaces. And now, there might be no way out. He quickly got up and headed to the window. A shiver ran down his spine as he realized that he wasn't as modest as he previously thought. He looked around until he found the dresser. There wasn't much in there, a few t-shirts, colored and non-colored, a few pairs of jeans, and some tattered beige shorts. For some reason there was no underwear for him, but that meant going commando for the time being. He took a purple shirt and a pair of jeans, carefully tucking himself safely away in the process. Things soon became dizzying, and the floor came to meet him.
"Jesus Christ Beast Boy!" The sound of the black haired girl had to fill the tower. The man woke to Raven as she leaned out the doorway of his room. "I leave him to watch you and he ends up leaving himself." She muttered to herself. "Useless. Oh, you fainted again, too much moving around without food or water. I'll bring you up some and make sure you eat it."
Soon the green haired, green skinned man walked through the door. "What? I just left for a- OH. I guess he fell down."
"No, dumbass, he fainted and you weren't here to help, AGAIN. Luckily you missed him showing himself I guess." She said, leaving the room angrily.
"Ugh, I guess I'm the one that's going to have to take care of you for now, so where do you come from?" He inquired. Nothing came from the blond. "Are you too afraid to talk to us? Or can you even speak?" He questioned. No movement from the other man came. He was very still and kept his composure. He slowly moved his shoulders up and down, a shrug-like movement.
"Wow, a response. Finally, a response. I guess that we can deal with you now. So, what's your name?" No response came from the blond again, and Beast Boy decided to ignore it. "What brings you to the city? How about if you start talking, so we can start helping? Well, you know my name, who I am, and where we all live, but we know nothing about you. I'm surprised Robin let you actually stay in the tower with what happened last time. I guess I'll have to trust in our fearless leader, but what are you doing here, what is your purpose?" He asked nonchalantly.
Again there was no response and Beast Boy had to sit there in silence as he watched the taller man walk around and check out his room a bit more. The room was an average sized room and had a rather intricate paint job. The walls were all painted as scenery from a desert, but it still had an unnerving aura, or so the man could tell. Even Beast Boy seemed uneasy being in there. Everything had an earth-y feel to it, from the furniture, to the bedspread, to the paint upon the walls. Still, the other man paced for a while until Raven came back with some food.
"Alright, we don't know what you eat, so I brought an assortment of food. There are some eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, quiche, fruit, and some pancakes, along with various drinks." She explaining, pointing to the assorted food on the platters. They were, of course, floating around in the air with her powers. "Take what you like, but make sure you eat." She set them down on the bed And Beast Boy, make sure he eats. Robin has told me you can't go on any missions until you take care of him."
"Crap, why me?" He pleaded.
"Because you're the one that let him faint. Twice. Sit there and make sure he eats." She hissed before leaving. Her black-purple locks were the last thing out the door.
"So, what do you want? I personally recommend the fruit, toast, and fruit juices, didn't have to hurt any animals to get them." He said, grabbing some fruit and a piece of toast. "Yoh nehd tah eht. I ave tah mak shur." Was his sentence, barely understandable with the food being shoveled into his mouth. The blond soon started picking at food, just toast and fruit though.
"Oh, hey. Are yoh ah vegehtariun has whell?" He asked, still stuffing his face. There was little movement from the man as he stared down the green stranger and took a bite of bacon. After a small, but distinct swallow he responded with, "Guess that answers that." The silence that came after was clearly awkward, as neither were willing to speak. Eventually the man stopped eating food and stared at Beast Boy.
"Hey, uh…" The blonde started.
"Oh! He speaks! What a miracle!" He chided.
"Don't push it." The blond responded. "I just wanted to thank you. For, uh, for taking care of me." He blushed a bit.
"Hey now, no problem. It's just what us heroes do!" Beast Boy said cockily.
"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get up and stretch a bit."
"Oh, sorry bud, but I don't think that's the best idea." Beast Boy stated, but moved quickly to get everything onto a different place. "At least now you won't have plates and everything else cluttering your space."
"C'mon, I was moving fine before besides, you're watching over me now. If I faint, you can move me back to my bed and say that I never moved and got tired. Besides, I dressed myself, which- hey, where's the shirt I was wearing?" He asked, finally noticing his upper torso was exposed.
"It's been two days since you fainted last. We decided it was best to get you out of dirty clothes, though we left your pants on since you were wearing only them." This time Beast Boy was blushing, possibly remembering something that he had to experience first-hand.
"Well," He said, swinging his legs around the side of the bed, "I plan on getting up."
"Alright, I'll catch you if you fall."
He promised, lifting the last plate from the edge of the bed. "Just, you know, don't."
Then the blonde stood, there were no issues, no problems, but he seemed to know what he needed to do. He stumbled around a bit, grabbing onto the edge of the bed, the dresser, anything he could.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Beast Boy exclaimed, trying to catch him each time. The blonde avoided him with ease, taking erratic patterns to get where he was going on next. It wasn't long before the green enveloped the white though, he did have shape shifting and years of running on him. As he was holding the naked chest to his weird, suit-covered chest Beast Boy was rambling on and on about how the other shouldn't have gotten up and how he wasn't ready, but the blonde quickly stiffened his body and started to make them float in the room.
"You're totally fine, aren't you?" He stammered out after being surprised by the lift.
The blonde simply smirked and returned us to the floor. "Yeah, just thought I'd make you fret."
Beast Boy broke the hold and continued to watch him walk around. He took the time to do some stretches, as he was sore from being so bedridden. The blonde was antsy, surprisingly full of energy. He looked at Beast Boy a few times who continued to watch me him move around the room.
"Hey, I know you're-" The sound of the door opening cut the blonde off.
"Beast Boy!" It was the orange-haired, green-lighted wonder. "And our new friend! I hope you are feeling well as you are now mobile!" She immediately came upon the blonde and nearly crushed him with a gigantic hug. "I am glad your body has refreshed itself!" He was still in the hug, continuing to get squeezed.
"Uhhh, Starfire? I think he needs to breathe." His rescue came just in time. She gasped as she let him go, who then gasped and collapsed out of necessity for air. "Nice one, he just came to and you're going to put him back down."
"Oh no! New friend, please be okay!" She lifted the man onto his feet and made sure he was steady.
"I'm al-" He was able to respond before getting cut off by a harsh alarm.
"Titans, emergency in the city. Move out!" Came Robin's voice from their communicators.
"I shall see you down there." Starfire smiled before flying off.
"Are you fine? You look fine." Beast Boy hesitated before leaving. "Look, just don't go too crazy before we come back. We don't want to find you collapsed again."
"Alright, alright." He chuckled, "One question, where's the gym in here?"
"Oh, go down the hallway, take two lefts, elevator down to the 1st floor, and then it's a left, right, straight past two turns, and then you'll see it on your right." The blonde's face looked very confused, but Beast Boy didn't notice. "Also, you might want to put a shirt on." The green one turned and then left, speeding towards the elevators he just mentioned.
"But, oh whatever." He muttered, being left alone in the room. He moved towards the dresser, rummaging through the contents. He pulled out a pair of white athletic shorts and a tank top. In the moment it took him to pull his pants down, the door opened up again. The blonde turned to see Beast Boy, who was looking much more of a red than green at that moment.
"Jesus! No shame either!" He said, getting quite the eyeful. "Well, here's a new card. The old one didn't have the gym on it." He then left, running down the hallway again.
"Uh, thanks." The blonde replied, taking note of where his intruder's eyes were lingering. He dressed himself soon after and stepped into the hallway. It was a metal hallway, grey and lifeless, but he remembered where to go. He started to go down the hallway, the same way Beast Boy had gone just a few seconds earlier. He took two lefts and the elevator, but then couldn't exactly remember where to go. He tried taking a few turns, but nothing seemed to come of it. Finally he came upon a door. He swiped the key, and sure enough it opened. Walking in, he looked around to find that he was in some sort of recreational room. He turned, aggravated that this place could be so infuriating. In a moment he was turning down halls, not really sure where he was going.
The blonde stopped for a few minutes, took the time to try to figure out where he was. All the running around had made him quite confused. Sitting down, he took the time to think about what he could do to get out of his situation, and then it hit him. He sat up, breathing slowly. He saw the air currents and the shapes they moved around. When most of the tower was mapped within his head, he looked for the gym specifically. He couldn't stifle his laughter. His own laughter could be heard through most of the tower, if only someone was there to hear it.
He stood up, turned the corner and walked in the door. And there, before him, was the gym. He continued the stretches from above and started off slow. A few crunches, a few barbell lifts, even a few pull-ups. Soon, however, his body tired from the lack of exercise he's had recently. So, instead, he decided to work on his powers. Since he mapped the tower out already, he figured he'd have a bet more fun. He sat, floating in the middle of the room. Then he lifted weights, equipment, anything that wasn't bolted down. Everything eventually became airborne, though slowly. In just a moment everything was circling the room.
He stayed like that for a while, using practicing his powers. It was only when Cyborg entered the room did his concentration break. "Yo, what are you doing?" He demanded, unhappy and perplexed as machinery crashed to the ground. "What the hell?"
"Sorry, you startled me, broke my train of thought. Where does all of this stuff go again?" he asked, floating himself down.
"I might as well help with that, this goes here and that goes there…" They worked for a few minutes, getting everything back in order. "Man, I didn't know half this stuff moved. What were you doing anyway?"
"Just getting in some practice, it was a chore finding this place."
"So Beast Boy was telling the truth, you've decided to speak." He was smirking, "Didn't he explain how to get here?"
"Yeah…" He ran a hand through his hair. "But it was so fast and so not helpful that I simply forgot the last part." The blonde clutched his side and sat down on one of the benches.
"You alright? Should you be moving?" Cyborg was concerned.
"I'm fine, I won't faint. Just a little exhausted is all." His breathing was heavy and his muscles ached. "Need only a minute."
"Well, I can't leave you on your own. Just tell me when you're done resting."
"Just another second." His gasps were subsiding. "Alright, I think I'm ready to leave." His movements were slow, edging on snail-like. "I guess exerting myself had some repercussions after being out for so long."
"That's what happens, a good blow to the head, or two like you've suffered, a few days of rest, and then your muscles atrophy just enough to make you weaker." Cyborg chuckled to himself. "You know, I haven't had that problem in a long while."
"Yeah? How did you get rid of it?" He asked, massaging his arms.
"Well, I thought that a bit obvious." He clenched his fist, making his metallic arm make its own noises.
"Right, sorry. I guess that was rude."
"It's alright, worse has been said." He explained. "But let's get you back upstairs." He came over and grabbed the blonde's arm to help him up. Soon he was nearly carrying the other man as they took a single turn and found elevators waiting.
"Beast Boy isn't very good at mapping things out in his head, is he?" The blonde asked.
"Nope, knows one elevator up and down."
"Not the brightest, is he?" At that Cyborg just chuckled, helping him to the lift. It was a much shorter trip than the one Beast Boy advised. They reached the room that the blonde was staying in and the door opened to reveal Beast Boy inside fixing up the bed.
"Oh, hey guys. Just making sure things are clean." He said, straightening the bed.
"Oh, thanks. I'll just grab some clothes and go shower…" The blonde briskly walked over to the dresser, grabbing a pair of black pants and a simple red t-shirt.
"Hey, don't forget some underwear! I put some on the vanity." Beast Boy said, motioning to the furniture.
"Not my fault you guys didn't supply me with any." The blonde smiled, moving towards the bathroom. "So far, it's only really been a problem for you, Beast Boy." He winked to Cyborg as he moved into the bathroom.
"And what was that all about?" Cyborg asked, sounding muffled through the door. The blonde disrobed and stepped into the shower. It was an odd looking shower, mostly stone and marble, but it also had enough metal to make it clearly a shower. With one turn of the knob, warm water cascaded from the main showerhead and four others that were unknown to the blonde. He stood there, water flowing over his body.
There was a knock at the door. "Hello? I'm going to give you a towel and some stuff for the shower." It was Beast Boy, sent by Cyborg to give the man what he needed. "It's been a while since I've been in here. But I'm leaving towels near the sink and… here." He said, opening the door to the shower. His thrust his hand into it without him looking.
"Hey!" The blonde exclaimed, feeling a cool hand brush up against his genitals. "Trying to get a handful instead of an eyeful?"
The green hand dropped the small basket containing soap and shampoo. "Oh god! If you faint, or anything, just yell! I'll be in the bedroom trying not to die!" And with that the green man exited the bathroom with haste. The blonde chuckled and soon continued to wash himself. The Titans had good stuff, probably given to them for free in thanks of saving people. But at this time he wasn't complaining. He made sure his shower was long and relaxing, massaging his muscles every chance he had.
A knocking came on the door to the bathroom, "Hey, man, it's been a half hour." He soon snapped out of the trance he was in, the warmth of the shower and the massaging lulled him into a near sleep. He rinsed his hair one more time before exiting the shower. He grabbed the towels off of the sink and dried himself. He made sure to keep one around his waist and the other around his neck to stop his hair dripping too much.
"Do you have a comb?" He sauntered out, staring the green man in the face.
"Uh, I can see if Starfire or Raven have an extra." He was averting his eyes from the blonde.
"Oh wait, there's one of the vanity here." The man walked over to the vanity and sat down, grabbing the comb from the vanity. And there he sat; combing his hair while making sure it was not going to drip with the towel. "So, are you just going to sit there and ogle me?"
"What?! I wasn't!" Beast Boy was quick to defend.
"This chair has no back and I can see you in the mirror staring at my ass." The blonde was smirking, staring right back at the green one who quickly turned his gaze towards the window and the soon-to-be-setting sun. "It's alright, really. You've been staring all day. You even touched my dick."
"I won't even live that down, will I?" He pleaded.
"No, probably not. But, you know, at least thanks for noticing." The blonde had just finished with his hair, somewhat dry, yet still wet. He stood from his chair, the towel from his waist drifting to the floor. He simply shrugged as he made his way back to the bathroom to get dressed. He was sure Beast Boy would notice and look, but he's seen everything already, so it didn't really bother the blonde. He got dressed in a timely fashion; he already wasted a lot of time.
"I have a question," Beast Boy's words came through the door as the shirt was pulled over his head. "What's your name? I mean, you know mine and everyone else's in the Tower." The man came out of the bathroom staring down at him. "If you don't want to, can I at least ask you to accompany me to the roof?" He asked, opening the door to the hallway.
"Sure, I guess, but I'll lead us there and you don't ogle." The man had already mapped the building and the route to the roof. "Judging by the way you sent me downstairs, it would take a few minutes to get to the roof." He said, turning left into the hallway and then another left around a corner.
"Oh yeah, heh, I always forget about this elevator." Beast Boy murmured.
"No worries, I know about it."
"How?"
"I mapped the building after I got lost looking for the gym." He explained, chuckling at remembering what happened.
"Really? I've lived here for years and you've accomplished what I couldn't." His mood dampened a bit.
"Yeah, but you've got all those animals jammed in there. That probably takes up a good amount of space." He was tapping his temple, trying to lift his spirits a bit. It seemed to work, as the lift reached the rooftop, he stepped out and stretched.
"Well, I guess you're right. Nothing like fresh air after a mission."
"Oh yeah, what was the mission?"
"Nothing big, just Control Freak going on about something. Absolutely not serious at all." He moved to the edge and sat down, staring towards the bay and the sunset. "C'mon."
The blonde obliged, sitting next to the green man. "You know, I hated you guys when I first woke up."
"Really?" He said, shifting a little bit away from the other.
"Well, I woke up a few weeks ago and those guys, those people with the truck? I thought they were my friends." He sighed, wanting to rewrite the experiences he had.
"Oh yeah. Those guys really didn't like you too much in the end though. Oh well, trial and error. Hopefully you'll see that we're trying to help you."
"I do, don't worry." He patted the green one's knee. "I mean, I finally have someone to ogle me."
"C'mon man, you don't have to bring that up all the time." He groaned.
"No, not all the time, just when I find it amusing." The blonde smiled, looking at Beast Boy. "Hey." He got him to look him in the eye. "My name is Gem."
So there it is. The eventual chapter 2. I hope to continue updating, but I think I'll start alternating updates between this and the Rise of the Guardians story I'm working on as well.
If you think a shift to 1st person would change too much, please inform me. Otherwise I'm going to try it in the next chapter.