Chapter Two: Grin Prospects
For the umpteenth time in what seemed as many minutes, Raven wondered what she was doing there. It wasn't as if she hated being there, it was just that she felt there were better places to spend her time. She could have been at the Tower, meditating, or out at the park with the others, reading, or back at the Jump City Museum helping Director Jones with his artifacts.
But the boys had decided to teach Starfire baseball, and Indy (as Director Jones insisted Raven call him) had an appointment with some young archeologist, while Blackfire insisted that Raven come along with her to the mall.
That was how she ended up here, at the newly opened Fischer's Fissure, the mall's trendiest clothing boutique. Needless to say, it wasn't her sort of place.
Raven sighed as she looked at the changing room in front of her, wondering about what outlandish costume Blackfire would choose. The fact that Blackfire had asked Raven not to look as she came back with a huge selection of clothing, as well as the fact that Fischer's Fissure (established by an ex-funeral home worker) had a special section designated as 'Formal Funeral', complete with veils, wide-brimmed black hats, flowing gowns- in short, all the pseudo-Gothic wear that annoyed Raven no end, gave Raven a pretty good idea of what Blackfire was going to come out with.
Raven's bored face soon gave way to a small smile of resignation, as she mused on the thought that maybe that was why Blackfire had brought them there- maybe she thought she had found a fashion store Raven would actually like.
"Nice try," Raven whispered, as she leaned back against the wall.
"You say something, Raven?" Blackfire asked from behind the door, her voice slightly muffled.
"No," Raven replied. "Are you done yet?"
"Almost," Blackfire replied, a tone of mischievousness in her voice. "Just trying to add some finishing touches. No peeking!"
Raven rolled her eyes and looked away. Barely a year ago, that tone in Blackfire's voice would have sent alarm bells ringing in the minds of all the Titans. These days, it (usually) seemed like the only one who'd end up with pie on her face'd be Raven.
That being said, it was a small price to pay for being with a person who made her say-
"Wow." It was all Raven could manage when she saw Blackfire step out. She wasn't the Gothic Vampire Queen™ Raven had been expecting, nor did she emerge a Consumptive Tudor Maiden®. Instead, she simply emerged in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved black cotton shirt.
"I knew you'd like it," Blackfire said, walking towards Raven.
"It isn't really what I expected you to pick, though," Raven said, still bemused.
Laughing, Blackfire replied, "Raven, you don't become a good thief by drawing attention to yourself- you become a good thief by drawing attention to others." Placing her arms around Raven and drawing the Azerath close, Blackfire whispered, "And at the moment, you're the one in the leotard and deep blue cloak."
"I'm your distraction?" Raven asked drily.
"Well, you're certainly distracting me," Blackfire whispered huskily, drawing the two of them closer-
"WOO-WOO! Yeah ladies! Go for it!" someone cried out.
Blackfire and Raven turned in the direction of the speaker; a tall, lanky boy, currently pounding his fist in the air, while his friend nearby laughed. "What're you waiting for?" he shouted, ignoring the dirty looks some of the patrons were giving him. "Changing room's right there! Don't worry, I won't peek- much!"
The two girls glared at them for a moment. "Wait here," Blackfire said, before walking over to the boys. "Do you know who I am?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, 'Blackfire' and 'Raven'," the boy said, hooking his fingers. "I know who you two are! Hey, you missed a spot!" he said pointing to her eyebrows, laughing. "Hey, I think the geek convention's next door!" he yelled, before breaking into laughter again.
Blackfire actually looked disgusted. " 'Geek convention'? That's the best insult you can come up with? Oh please!"
"Oh, oh, oh, lemme guess- you're gonna show me how it's done," the joker said-
-when suddenly two tendrils of dark energy came up from beneath him, holding his arms in place. "No," Raven said. "I am."
"Oh crap," the comedian's friend said in a small voice as the blood drained from both his and his friend's faces, "you're the real Raven, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Not some chick in a costume?" the joker asked.
"Well, she's not just 'some chick', I can tell you that," Blackfire quipped."And do you know what else that means?" she added sweetly.
"Th-th-th-that you're the real Blackfire?" the boy squeaked.
Blackfire nodded, her wide grin one of obscene cheerfulness.
The prankster visibly gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "Hey, c'mon, I was just foolin' around, I didn't mean anything," he said. "I don't want- Oh nooo…" he whimpered, as a shadow fell over them.
Blackfire looked up, and was shocked to see Raven towering over everyone in the store, all four red eye slits blazing, looking more terrible now than she did six months ago in R'l'yeh. "Raven!" Blackfire shouted in distress- until Raven glared at her, and to Blackfire's surprise, the two left eyes went dark for a moment before flaring up again. The Tameranean smiled, and backed down.
Raven then proceeded to loom over the two boys, now shaking uncontrollably. "Please oh please oh please I don't wanna die NOOOOOOO MOOOMMMEEE!" he shouted as a dark hand shot out from beneath Raven's cloak at him-
-holding a wad of bills. "Fifty dollars," Raven growled.
"H-huh?"
"To replace your pants." And as Raven returned to her normal size, and the wave of dark energy withdrew into her, it was plain for all in the store to see that both boys now had very, very wet patches in the middle of their pants, running down to their legs. Looking at each other, then at Raven, the two boys broke and ran, the fifty dollars drifting down to the floor untouched.
(scene change)
Later, as Blackfire and Raven sat at a nearby restaurant, the laughter and applause of the boutique's patrons and employees still ringing in their ears, Raven shifted Blackfire's huge bags full of willingly discounted clothing at her feet further under their windowside table, and stretched out her legs.
She looked out the window, but after a second or two, turned back to Blackfire. In her opinion (although not one she would ever express in public), even the view from their table, a pristine scene of Jump City Park and the ocean, could not compare with the view across her table.
"Nice show you put on there, Raven," Blackfire said with sincere appreciation, putting down her coffee ("Two heaped tablespoons of the blackest coffee you have, add hot water. Got it?"). "You didn't have to do that, though," Blackfire grinned, her eyes starting to glow.
"I know- why do you think I got involved?" Raven deadpanned, as a waitress placed a small plate of shrimp linguini in front of her.
"Oh Raven! You were worried about me?" Blackfire asked in tones wide-eyed innocence.
This time, it was Raven's turn to smile. "Do you know how much you sound like Starfire when you do that?"
"Gah, don't remind me," Blackfire grumbled, before breaking into a smile. "So, tell the truth- how good do I look?"
Raven raised an eyebrow.
"Gee, thank you, Raven," Blackfire said with good-natured sarcasm.
"To tell the truth, I prefer you in your battle armor," Raven said.
"No kidding," Blackfire replied, as she briefly pulled back a sleeve.
"Doesn't that get hot?" Raven asked, seeing the flash of metal.
"Oh Raven, you know I'm always hot," Blackfire replied. "Sorry, I couldn't resist," she added, seeing the look Raven gave her.
More seriously, she added, "But actually, no, it's not that hot. And besides, this way, nobody will know I've got body armor on until it's too late."
Raven found herself smiling at that remark. "Until it's too late?"
Blackfire gave Raven a wicked smile. "Until it's way too late," she repeated.
Raven found herself smiling as well. For all the time she had spent on Earth, Blackfire was still in quite a few respects the same person who had crash-landed on Earth nearly a year ago.
"Say, Raven?" Blackfire asked. "Why didn't you get yourself anything?"
"I like the way I look," Raven said, taking a bite of pasta.
"Don't get me wrong, Raven, so do I," Blackfire whispered slyly. "I just think it's about time you tried something new, something- oh I don't know, something exciting."
"Exciting for me? Or for you?" Raven asked, a hint of a smile playing across her face.
"Well," Blackfire said, leaning forward, "who says it can't be a win-win situation…?"
(scene change)
"Come on Dannie," the trucker drawled, "this way we both win!"
"Oh really?" the waitress he called Dannie replied, as she picked up his dirty dishes. "How do I win, exactly?"
"Well, I don't hafta pay, and you get my undyin' friendship," he replied, smiling.
The waitress laughed. "Sorry, Mike- Mama says pay, you gotta pay. It's only five bucks."
"I know, I know," Mike said, getting up towards the diner's cashier. "Just lookin' for an excuse to see you smile, is all."
Dannie smiled back at him, and went to the kitchen. She knew he had a little crush on her, and he knew she knew. To tell the truth, it was kind of flattering. Sure, he was old- not old enough to be her dad or anything like that, eww- but old nonetheless, yet he was also kind-hearted, harmless, and in his own, rough Southern way, a perfect gentleman.
"If only I were just ten years older, Mama," Dannie said as she ran into the diner's owner washing dishes in the kitchen. Well, supervising, anyway.
"Child, if you was ten years older you'd have done gone and found yourself a man already," Mama said. Mama, real name Margaret Matthews, was a larger-than-life (both physically and in spirit) black woman, and she made damn sure everyone within a ten-mile radius knew it. "And I hope to God when you do get ten years older, you find yourself a better man than that trucker out there."
"Oh Mama, there's nothing wrong with him," Dannie said, putting the dishes in the sink before turning around.
"Oh no, Dannie, you ain't goin' nowhere!"
Mama turned to the girl washing the dishes. "Joanne, you get your butt out there and start serving the customers. Dannie here'll take over." She fixed Dannie with a penetrating gaze. "I gots some things I wanna talk to her about."
"Sure thing, Mama," Joanne said. "Guess that's the end of my 'break'," she said as she walked out.
"Damn if that girl didn't have a smart mouth on her," Mama said, as Dannie took over dishwashing duties.
"Now, now, Mama," the cook said, "she's a good worker."
"I know she's a good worker, Tom! That's why she still workin' here! Did I ask for your opinion? I don't think I asked for your opinion."
"You see how she talks to me, Dannie?" the cook laughed. "If you get yourself a husband, find someone like me- a husband who's only seen, not heard."
"Well, I seem to be doin' a whole lot of hearin' from you! Now hush up, I gotta talk to this little girl here 'bout her choice of men."
"Like you're one to talk," Tom said, placing a plate of sausages and eggs on the counter. "Order up!"
"Didn't I just tell you to hush? So you're white, so what? Don't mean I can't love you! Now shut your mouth and let me talk to the girl."
Outside, Joanne took the plate of sausages and eggs to man sitting alone at the far end of the diner. "You order this, sir?"
"Yeah, thanks," the man said gratefully. He was well-dressed, simple black-and-white business suit ensemble. In front of him was an open briefcase with various files and documents.
"Anything else, mister?"
"No, no thanks, I've got everything I need," he said, taking out one of the documents on the briefcase. The look he gave her was a polite one, albeit a bit distracted. Joanne could see that he obviously had a lot of work to do.
"Okay then, mister, have a nice day," she said, walking off. "If you need anything else, just holler."
"Okay, I'll do that," the man nodded distractedly, his attention on the document in his hands.
But as she did, the man's face immediately hardened as he watched her walk away. When he was confident she was out of earshot, he took out his cell phone. "She's here."
"Are you sure?"
"Perfectly sure. She hasn't changed much in three years, to tell the truth. I recognized her at once."
"But she didn't recognize you?"
"No sir, she didn't."
"Good work- wait."
"Sir? Is anything wrong?"
"…No, no, nothing's wrong," the voice at the other end said. "In fact, things are very, very right indeed."
"If you say so, sir. What do I do here?"
"Keep up your surveillance, but don't make yourself too obvious. I want to know where she goes, what she does, where she lives. If she so much as sneezes, I want the tissue she wipes her nose with, understand?"
"Yes sir."
"And Herman?"
"Yes sir?"
"Get your team ready. If things go to plan, you may be moving out soon."
The man's smiled widened and grew cruel. "Yes sir."