Grumbumble (I'm using your way of responding to reviews! Thanks for reading, accidentally deleted your last e-mail, resend please? Ravencentric weird for me, but coming along nicely, thanks for all the comments on my writing, keeps the morale high) Pyrokinetic Demon (Thank you, I hope it's a major hit too) Corrosive Fate (Flatterer! But thank you, I worked hard on that scene and it came out just right, thanks for commenting) Ninjamonkey (Thank you, I did) Bluerose- S.S (Nice to hear from you, it was a great first review for this story!)
Up for Air
By: Catty Engles
Amusement
Sunlight pricked Raven's eyelids and she groaned, the noise grating on her ears. She rolled over, massaging at the knots in her back. What had she been doing to deserve this? Annoyance pinched her features as she found herself lying on the floor at the foot of her bed rather than in it.
She pitched to her feet, pawing at her hair and stumbled to the window, ripping away the curtains. Bright and cheerful yellow rays bounced around the room playing foil to the dreary objects that inhabited it. Raven blinked noncommittally and yawned loudly, feeling happy to be up later than her normal dawn appearance. For once she had slept in and it felt nice.
She turned around, her eyes first resting on a pile of laundry and self-loathing of her inclination to procrastinate inched in on her thoughts. Grumbling, she stomped over to the clean laundry and scanned the room for a hanger hoping she could save herself the long trip to the closet. Instead she discovered a pool of vomit lying next to the place she woke from.
Just seeing the cold mass made the bile surge through her stomach and she dry gagged once before regaining control. What had happened? She pondered this on the way to the bathroom to collect washcloth, bucket, and soap. I'm not hung over. She needled her forehead, trying to remember last night's events.
Blank. Nothing. She did meditate… She re-entered her room and began cleaning up her mess. Though her powers were definitely having an on night, she was having more trouble controlling her emotions…
Her emotions…
Her knees gave out, suddenly weak by her revelation. She had been angry, annoyed, joyful, and grateful all in the recent three minutes and nothing had blown up or been thrown into a swirling vortex off to Hell. How…? Raven didn't dare to believe, but… there it was again! Denial, hope, anticipation… She was reacting naturally to her surroundings! Wonder, disbelief, joy, happiness, exultation!
She sang, loud and raucous. She cried, heavy and sobbing. She smiled and frowned and laughed and yelled and pulled faces, did jumping jacks, turned cartwheels, and still everything was intact! She had emotions and she wasn't afraid to use them!
When the door burst open and her friends came pouring in, varying degrees of alarm registering on their faces she yelped then shouted for joy, returning Starfire's bone-crushing hug for the first time each ton/inch that the Tamaranian administered. She kissed Beastboy full on the lips and Robin on the cheek and since she couldn't reach Cyborg she pumped his hand up and down harder and harder. Laughing, crying, swirling, and rejoicing, Raven fainted, falling into Beastboy's arms in the hallway, a huge smile still on her lips.
Shocked silence.
"Okaaaaaaay … Who ordered the freaky mystery Raven in a box?" He was smiling, but disturbed.
"Knock it off Beastboy, we've got to get her to the medical bay." Robin touched his cheek. "Something is definitely wrong with her."
"I am not so confident. There may be in actuality, something right with our Raven." Starfire brushed two fingers against her friend's cheek, concern tightening her face.
"Um, getting, hmrph, heavy." Beastboy staggered a little, trying to shift Raven to an easier position to hold. Cyborg relieved him of her and with a little murmur of reassurance; he carried Raven to the medical bay.
Starfire latched herself onto Robin as they followed a few steps behind Raven and Cyborg. Beastboy lagged before licking his lips and tucking his hands deep into his pockets and shuffled along behind the team.
For the second time in so many hours, Raven found herself wondering what she had done to make her body protest to the simple act of opening her eyes. She didn't make any noise, but lay in bed calmly watching the ceiling and processing her memories.
The same rush of joy ran through her in shudder as she re-experienced the emotional epiphany. She could feel.
Her face scrunched up, she could feel physically and her senses were slowly returning to her as if through rush hour traffic. Why do they call it rush hour? Nobody moves hence nobody rushes. Maybe it's because everyone would rush if they could
Raven blinked. Did I just think that?
Her previous mindset was geared to all things dark and dreary. Nondescript ramblings of the meaning of life and impassionate dark inclinations towards death and destruction. None of this unintelligible drivel she had caught herself red-handed in.
To remedy the lost situation she closed her eyes again, trying to find just what had happened to her and why she could suddenly smile without something nearby imploding. What she found were boundless limits on her mind, but something was missing. She had no restraints, no scruples, and her consciousness was only limited to the here and now, no dark musings of the underworld, but merely a happy medium of both.
A balanced diet
Raven smiled. She just did it again and for some bizarre reason, she didn't really care.
Raven opened her eyes once more, now focused and surer of herself; she took stock of her surroundings. Starfire dozed next to her in a chair, her head on her shoulder and her eyes fluttering in a light sleep. Beastboy on the other hand was dead to the world; his head slumped on her mattress and his hand in a loose grip on hers. He snored, but his head was turned the other way so she couldn't see if he drooled.
Blackmail
Raven caught herself thinking trivial thoughts again, but this time they amused her rather than alarmed her. She liked being amused and tried it again, smiling wider at Beastboy's fatigued form. Amused She labeled the emotion, bubbly and warm, but tight and expectant as well. Amused She thought again, storing the knowledge in a file somewhere in her suddenly undisciplined mind.
"Raven, I am glad you have discontinued your dreadful sleep for the time being. Please do not recommence it, but stay conscious once more." Starfire looked worried but smiled, tilting her head to the side. She had evidently woken from her doze.
Raven turned towards her friend, "Don't worry, Star, I'm back. How long?"
Starfire, catching her drift, said, "Thirty-two hours of fitful slumber and maybe an hour or two of fitful wakeness. I do not believe you were lucid as you did not act as your logical self, either laughing or crying when one of us talked to you." She did not look scared, just oddly put out at Raven's sudden change. That's the longest time I've ever gone without meditating. Guess a lot of things will be different now- if this is permanent.
Raven smiled weakly and Starfire sucked in a breath. The Tamaranian threw a swift check of the state of objects in the room. Finding no sign of destruction imminent or prior she turned back to Raven, her confused face more pronounced. "Raven, you smiled."
"And the weird part is, I like it." Raven grinned, she felt amused again and Starfire's face did nothing to help banish the feeling- not that she wanted it banished, it was just habit. "Something's happened to me," Raven scooted up in the bed, the last clinging vestiges of sleep shaken off by the sudden motion, "I'm different inside. Not restricted at all, just normal. Like you or Beastboy or anyone. Starfire, I can feel."
"Magnificent!" The sentiment did not carry the usual hundred-watt joy that Starfire generally shown with but was breathy and half-hearted. Raven didn't have time to question her friend because Beastboy snorted and then jerked up, frazzle haired and dull eyed, but that changed as soon as he saw Raven awake.
"Welcome back to the land of the living! Sorry, I don't have a brochure on me." He beamed, sitting back in the chair and letting go of her hand. One side of Raven's mouth puckered into a half-smile.
"I shall alert Robin and Cyborg of your recovery." Starfire floated out of her chair and then flew to the door, opening and shutting it carefully before hurtling down the hall in search of her teammates.
Raven smiled at Beastboy and he blinked. He thought, this will take some getting used to.
Not the best spot to cut it off but what am I supposed to do? So, Raven has recovered her emotions, guess what havoc they will reek in coming chapters! Thanks for reading, please review!
