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Robin didn't waste any time that morning.
"Okay team," the Boy Wonder said as he paced back and forth in the dining room, forcing the sitting Titans to move their heads to follow his movement.
"We have several things to address. Important things. This weather, for instance," he said, waving a gloved hand in the vague direction of the window, which was almost completely obstructing the view outside with layer upon white layer of frost.
"This weather is, quite obviously, not natural for this part of the United States. El Nino couldn't have done this, nor normal weather, or even the infamous Mr. Freeze. I have a reliable voucher on the latter, so that means we're starting at square one. Any ideas team?"
Silence greeted this little spiel. If it had been spring or summer, they would have been able to hear crickets chirping.
Robin rubbed his temples with his forefinger and thumb. "Nnngh...okay. So, square one. I'll see if I can't pull a few strings at the JL watchtower...oh, and Raven has something she wants to tell us."
The Boy Wonder trotted back to the table, settling next to Starfire. The two friends exchanged knowing smiles, and entwined their hands together, resting on Robin's leg.
Raven slowly stood, and strode purposefully to where Robin had previously been standing. She turned, and faced the Titans.
To the others, it seemed as if their friend was born of granite or marble, so stony and set was her features.
Okay, she told herself as she took a deep, calming breath. They're your friends. They'll understand...
I hope.
Another silent breath, and her hands shifted under her cloak. Her dainty fingers brushed over X's cape, and she finally found her courage.
"I...I'm seeing someone," she stammered softly.
The effect was almost instantaneous.
"SAY WHAT?!" Cyborg bellowed, a large boyish grin on his dark face. "OH! MY LITTLE DARK GIRL HAS HERSELF A BOYFRIEND!!!" He smirks, arms crossing over his large metal chest. "About damn time."
The Changeling offered the half-demon a fragile smile. "Um, great. Who's the lucky guy?"
"Yeeaaaah! Who is he?" Cyborg said, looking akin to the cat that swallowed the canary. "He's that Goth guy from the club, ain't he?"
"No no, I got it," Beast Boy said dramatically, holding his hand up and striking his 'Sherlock Holmes' pose. It was as if he was wearing the coat, hat, and had the pipe in his mouth as he spoke in a phony British accent.
"After much deliberation and going over the clues many a time, I, the greatest detective this world has ever known-"
"Besides Batman," Robin interjected dryly.
"-have concluded that Raven. Is currently dating..." The changeling whirled his finger dramatically, and pointed towards the ceiling triumphantly.
"Kid Wycked!"
Raven fought the immediate urge to barf.
The rest of the Titans merely glared at Beast Boy, whose ear's drooped down.
"Eheh heh...am I close? Oh! It's Jericho, isn't it? You seem to like the quietyetstillslightlycreepyboys-"
"It's Red X!" Raven snapped, instantly regretting her outburst. Her hand flew to her mouth, but the bomb was dropped.
Beast Boy's jaw dropped all the way to the floor, and his eyes were unseeing. Cyborg looked similar. Only Robin and Starfire seemed to take this news with a grain of salt. Then again, they already knew, so it wasn't such a nasty shock.
"W-w-what?" Beast Boy finally whispered, shaking his head like a dog, and looking up at the half-demon imploringly. "Please Rae, tell me that was an attempt at a joke..."
"Friends! Is it not joyous that Raven has found someone special for herself?" Starfire jumped in, almost too eagerly. She beamed at the other two males, her smile almost as real as the prospect of Hell freezing over.
"Indeed, for she has been celebrating her own Heeerichglorp with him-"
"Hold it Star," Cyborg said, frowning as he held up a titanium hand and looked down at his petite, cloaked teammate. "Raven? Does he care about you?"
Raven paused at this, hooded eyes narrowing in thought. Her friends and teammates fell silent, and like any good friends would do, waited.
The mystic ran her thin fingers over the thief's cape once more before slowly looking up into Cyborg's red eye.
"You know that I'm slightly emphatic, and it's a growing ability," Raven murmured, pulling out the cape into view and gently holding it against her chest.
"I honestly don't sense any hostility in him. Just...joy, caring, and...benevolence. Yes, I believe he does care for me."
Cyborg nodded solemnly. "Then that's good enough for me."
Beast Boy chose that exact moment to explode.
"What is WRONG with you PEOPLE?!"
The Titans stared at their youngest member, various colored eyebrows cocked in silent question.
The green boy crossed his scrawny arms over his chest, teeth clenched as he stared at everyone.
"Hasn't anyone just heard what she said?! She's dating Red X! THE Red X! The Red X who kept kicking our butt not once, but twice! Well, more than that if you count Robin's mistake." He paused, waiting for their reactions.
Robin rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, yeah. We heard her loud and clear."
"Then why aren't we all freaking out?!" Beast Boy howled. "He's like, The Untouchable. We don't even know who he is! How can Raven-"
"You know Garfield," Raven interrupted irritably. "We didn't really know Terra, but you went steady with her anyway."
The elf's green ears drooped. "That was different," he whispered brokenly.
"No it wasn't," Raven said, emotionlessly. "We knew almost as much on her as we do X." She paused, and then turned her head towards Robin. "Um, just for your information, he told me his first name."
Robin cocked a dark eyebrow. "And?"
"Jacques. He said his name was Jacques," the mystic murmured.
Robin, along with Starfire, nodded. "This is excellent news, Friend Raven," the alien stated. She suddenly beamed.
"When are we to meet this Zock?"
"Jacques," Robin corrected gently.
"Yes, Raven's partner."
Beast Boy grumbled something incoherent, and slinked away to his room.
Raven watched him go before heaving a soft sigh. "He's...indisposed of for an indefinite amount of time. I don't know when he'll be back Starfire."
"Why did he vanish all of a sudden?" Cyborg asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Raven merely shook her hooded head. "Personal, Cyborg. It was personal..."
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It was a few nights after the meeting. Raven was curled up under both of her covers, eyes closed tightly as she dreamed her dream. . .
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She could see far and wide. Raven stood, nay, floated just above the roof of an icy Tower, her cloak flapping loudly in the freezing wind.
Everywhere she looked with her four red eyes, ice and snow covered everything. The Tower was a bluish-white, the windows and doors locked forever in a tomb of ice. The Bay was a solid, the incoming waves in their natural spikes, frozen. The buildings of Jump City and beyond stood, silent ice giants against the onslaught of a bleak, cold future. The City park was like the front of a Christmas card, except that the eerie silence and lack of any movement whatsoever turned what would have a been a warm greeting to a silent horror.
And all she could do was float there, waiting for...something. Someone...
A gentle, warm breeze warmed her back, the scent of salt wafting to her nostrils. A soft sigh escaped her demonic lips, and she turned, smiling.
"Cerenus," she cooed.
"Mi'lady," the demon whispered in return, tilting his head forward in a bow. The demon's skin was cerulean, and he carried the warmth and the scent of the sea lost long before then. His dark locks hung at his bare shoulders, and his azure-colored feathered wings folded over the rest of his naked body, whether for warmth or decency she didn't know.
"Mi'lady, I was ordered to remind you of-"
Time stopped, the two demons frozen with it. Reality melted into a crimson pool of writhing, screaming flesh, and another form arouse from it. Ebony skin with leathery wings, and a truly wicked smile.
The demon roared triumphantly, and began to rip and tear at the two, shredding their skin with its claws.
After he was finished, it turned to look right at HER.
"Dearest little Nephilimmm," it hissed. "Thy sire was my dearest friend. He made me promise to take care of any offsssssspring who might rrrrrraise up against him, and defeat him." Another long, low hiss.
"Should my plan work out, thy will be MINE."
With one last hellish roar, the ebony monster lunged at her, and his teeth flashed as he ripped and tore at her. . .
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Robin was just falling into the black abyss that everyone sooner or later has to deal with: sleep.
"Sweet Oblivion, open your arms," he sighed, burrowing deeper under his covers, a content smile on his lips.
Robin let out a loud yelp as something very soft and very heavy fell on him from his ceiling. "What the-mmph!" He yelped, tangled in his sheets. A warm body suddenly clung to him, shivering like mad.
He finally untangled himself, and blinked in the darkness. "Raven?"
The half-demon was currently trying to curl her whole around the Boy Wonder, eyes wide and panicked.
"Mmph...Raven!" He gripped her hands, pulling her to face his shadowy face. "What's wrong?"
The mystic couldn't stop shivering. Robin took the opportunity to look her over.
No bruises, or cuts. Skin a little paler than usual. Silk negligee that did nothing to hide her-
Robin smacked a hand over his masked eyes. Damn it Boy Wonder, offer her your blanket.
"Here," he said, gently pulling his blanket off and pulling it over her trembling form. "Now, what's wrong?"
Raven clung to him, shivering for a long moment before answering.
"B-bad dream," she croaked, attempting to wrap her legs around him. Robin, being a gentleman, allowed it, although his nerves were in the process of being shot to hell.
"Okay, okay, easy Rae," he said soothingly, trying not to move against her too much. "We all have bad dreams-"
"Not a dream," the mystic shivered, lilac eyes beseeching his hidden ones. "Warning."
The Boy Wonder cocked his head at her, considering. Raven was definitely the last person on the team he expected to go topsy-turvy over a dream. It must be really important then.
"Okay," he murmured, gently removing her legs from around his waist and pulling her into a chaste hug. "Tell me all about it. . ."
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The next night, Robin discreetly called Starfire into his room. The two friends were on his bed, cuddling.
"Star, tell me about Heeerichglorp," the Boy Wonder said, hesitantly reaching out to stroke her auburn locks.
The alien seemed to be enjoying the attention, and let out a soft sigh.
"Friend Robin, I shall tell you as much as I am able. The Time of Heeerichglorp is a wondrous time on Tamaran. As I have said, it is when a Tamaranian girl finds her life mate, and rejoices in it. Flying together, fighting together, even sexual intercourse is not uncommon during this period of happiness. After a full Earth year, they usually marry and proceed to have children."
Robin cocked his masked face at her, confusion permeating his body. "But Raven's from Azarath."
The Tamaranian smiled gently at her friend. "It does not matter. Heeerichglorp can happen anywhere in the known universe, it is not just limited to my people. It is a wondrous, and glorious time."
"Any side affects?" The Boy Wonder asked all too innocently.
Starfire merely smiled. "Besides premature and unplanned conception? Not usually."
"Just wondering," Robin sighed. "Raven kinda fell on me last night in bed."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"She had a bad dream, and she instinctively teleported to the person she trusted most. . .me." The Titan shook his head. "I...I have this crazy notion that she might have caused this snowstorm."
Starfire blinked, and turned to look at Robin.
They both stared at each other for a long moment.
"...Yeah, I'm crazy aren't I?"
"I do not believe that you are clinically insane Robin. It just seems extremely unlikely that our friend would have caused this malicious weather pattern. It is not in her nature, and she does not possess the power."
Robin considered this, settling deeper into his bed. "Yeah...back on Heeerichglorp..." he stilled, biting his lip.
"What about you?" he finally said, looking covertly at her. "Have you...?"
Her emerald eyes lowered, seemingly embarrassed. "No, I have not. I am not yet old enough, and my prospective male has not realized my interest."
Robin bit his lip, and scooted closer to her. She looked at him tenderly as he wrapped his arms around her in a cautious hug, and gently nuzzled against her neck.
The green-eyed alien sighed happily. "Then again. . .perhaps I am mistaken. . ."
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End of Chapter VI
First off, before your minds go completely in the gutter, NO STARFIRE AND ROBIN DIDN'T GOINK EACH OTHER!!!
What's with the sudden lack-luster of reviews? My story getting that bad or what?
A warning. Next chapter might MIGHT have some...physical stuff, teehee. I'm not sure, since my characters haven't gotten that far yet. I'm still writing a rough draft, and these two are proving to be a bit unpredictable. No, I'm not loosing it. Just accept that I'm trying to deal with fictional characters rationally...and I think I'm loosing. Oh well.
Another warning. Violence is coming up soon. You dun like blood and gore, you might want to leave while you still can. Seriously.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Joyeux Noel et Bonne Annee.