Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans
Twenty Twenty
Chapter Seven
First Roy cursed the phone for interrupting the moment.
Then he cursed himself for actually believing that there was a moment.
Rachel apologized, excusing herself politely to answer. She looked at the caller ID and smiled, "Oh, it's Richard." She gave a short smile to Roy before picking up and saying hello. Roy wondered if Dick was secretly watching them and called at that moment on purpose. He glanced back at Lian to make sure she was still on the swings and found her on the slide with a different child instead. His eyes moved back and forth between Rachel and Lian, then they decided to rest on a tree that wasn't really doing anything interesting. He listened to Rachel speak happily into the phone and prayed that Richard wasn't planning on talking long.
"Yeah, actually he's right here," Roy twitched and looked at her, one brow arched in suspicion. She made eye contact and seemed momentarily stunted. "You… want to talk to him?" The man sighed and held his hand out and she placed the phone in his palm gently after saying quickly, "Here he is…"
"What?" Roy said almost rudely and ignored the look Rachel gave him.
"Soo… how goes it?" Was he serious? Did he call just to check up on how things were? He was using someone else's phone for crying out loud.
"Is that what you called about?" Roy asked, a little bewildered.
Dick chuckled, "No." Roy waited for him to continue… but he didn't.
"Well, what then?" Roy swore he could hear the smile in Dick's voice when he answered.
"So, how'd you like to get together tonight?" Rachel had wandered off to push Lian on the swing, she looked like she wasn't paying much attention to Roy anymore.
"What are you talking about?" Roy asked carefully.
"You, me, Rae… Hang out? Dinner? You know." Roy almost smirked when he realized he had an actual excuse not to go.
"Can't. Nobody can watch Lian." He grinned after Dick was silent for a few seconds.
Then he said, "Bring her with." Roy frowned, "Yeah, actually, you know what? Why not invite Dinah, too?" What, was he serious?
"Dick, I--"
"I insist." Roy's lip curled up and he knew he had a mean look on his face. He turned away from the pair on the playground as he gnashed his teeth together. Had Dick planned this out? Probably did, the cocky little…
"Fine. Yeah. I'll bring Lian. And Dinah." Roy said suddenly and Dick grinned. Roy smirked wondering if this whole little escapade could work out in his favor. Not only would Dinah see how not his type Rachel was, Lian might not behave with so many people around.
"Great. Dave and Buster's. 5:30. Be there. Now give the phone back to Raven." Roy smirked again as he ventured onto the playground and handed the phone to said girl. She took it carefully before giving him a strange look and answering.
"Yes?…Oh really?… That's great!" She smiled again at Roy before motioning her hand at the still swinging Lian and moving away. Roy almost panicked. Lian swung back and forth her tempo slowly waning and Roy knew if he didn't do something fast Lian might start crying.
Reward her for her efforts…
Right. Reward her. Giving her a little push on the swing was a start, right? Roy stepped cautiously behind Lian and very gently pushed against her back. Lian didn't seem to cry out or do any other inane thing, so he did it again. And again. Lian started laughing and saying, "Whee!" and she seemed happy. Roy didn't realize he was smiling until it turned into a grin.
Rachel came back over silently and smiled up at him. He stopped pushing Lian for a moment to ask what had happened on the phone.
"Tonight should be great. I can't wait to meet Dinah, she sounds like an exciting person."
More exciting that you could ever be… A terrible and mean little voice whispered in the back of Roy's head before he could stop it and he almost gasped at the harshness of it. That was cruel! So Rachel wasn't exactly his friend, that didn't mean he was going to be unnecessarily mean to her!
Rachel still had a small smile on her face, looking pleased, not having really noticed Roy's own mortification at himself. He had helped Lian off the swing and was holding her hand as they walked to their separate vehicles. "5:30, okay?" Rachel called back to him. He nodded and waved as they went their separate ways.
"So then," Roy muttered as he fixed Lian in her car seat with surprisingly little resistance, "Let's see…"
He climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. He had things to do. He had to call Dinah… He needed to shower… He needed to get Lian ready… His stomach growled and reminded him that Lian was probably just as hungry as he was if not hungrier. They decided to stop at a Denny's restaurant and order something to go. Lian wanted those pancakes that looked like a face and Roy hoped it wasn't a mistake ordering them for her… those things looked like they had been ridiculously packed with sugar.
But if anyone could call him on it, he would say he was just following Rachel's advice and rewarding her.
Roy called Dinah as soon as he got home. "Yeah, you remember Dick, right?" he said into the phone while setting Lian in a chair and setting up her meal for her. Lian dug in hungrily. "Yeah, yeah. He wants to have some sort of get together or something…" Lian watched Roy shuffle through the kitchen in search of something. "I know it's short notice, but I need you to come!" He rifled through the drawers, the cupboards, the dishwasher, the sink, even curiously peeking in the fridge, "Rachel will be there." He said with a huff and put his hand oddly on his hip as he watched Lian eat. She stared back at him. Where are the forks? He mouthed to her as if she knew what he were talking about.
"What, you were all excited about her yesterday… No. I don't think he should come." Roy paused and turned away from Lian's odd staring. "Well… I don't know, I think it would be awkward, don't you?" Roy was silent for a long time and he rolled his eyes twice. He turned back around to face Lian and saw that she was missing, her pancakes turned to nothing but scraps and dribbles of syrup all over the dish and on the table. He looked around quickly and wondered how it was possible she could have gotten away so quickly without him hearing her get off the chair.
"Are you listening to me?!" An angry female voice carried through the receiver and Roy rolled his eyes a third time.
"Yes, I'm listening! So, will you come?" He asked while walking quickly through the strangely quiet house looking for the tiny red head that was his flesh and blood. She wasn't in the living room… she wasn't in the bathroom…
"Fine! Fine, I'll come! But you owe me. I don't know what I want, but whatever it is, whenever I figure it out, you'd better give it to me, go it?" Roy nodded, not remembering that she couldn't see him, "Got it?!"
"Yes! Jeez! Anyway, how long will it take you to get ready?" Roy pondered calling out for the girl but didn't want to alert Dinah to the fact he could not find her.
"As long as I want." She replied, her tone catty. So she was little annoyed. Roy wasn't deterred by that.
"No, really. I need you to come over and watch Lian while I shower." He said finally venturing to the girl's room carefully, wondering if it was a trap.
"Are you kidding me? What am I, your nanny? Maid? Slave? I swear…" Roy heard her sigh, "Fine, fine. I'll be over in an hour to help her get dressed, but I'll have to do my make up at your place, got it? Have an outfit for her out and ready so I can dress her alright?"
"Thank you so much, Dinah. I mean it. You're a life… saver…" Lian was halfway under her bed and she was making odd noises, like she was having trouble with something. He titled his head and muttered a goodbye as Dinah hung up. Roy approached her and crouched down to try to see better.
"Lian?"
"Help!" She cried and Roy tried to see under the bed as Lian wiggled out from underneath. "Help!" She cried again, pointing under the bed.
"What is it?" He asked ducking low and finally having to lie on his stomach to see under her low child's bed.
And there they were.
The forks.
All of them.
Stuck to the carpet with what looked to be half eaten candy. Roy gasped. He sat back up on his knees and stared at Lian. She stared back.
"Did you do that?" He asked slowly and in a whisper. She stared again and shook her head. "Are you sure?" Lian took a longer time to answer, but shook her head again. "Are you really sure?" Lian looked away and lifted her shoulders and dropped them quickly in an overdramatic shrug. Roy sighed. He looked back under the bed and wondered if there was a kind of cleaner he could use to free all of his forks from their sticky candy made prisons… but probably not. Great.
"Alright then. That's no good." He looked at Lian who looked like she may cry. He hoped not. He hated tears and snot and the loud wailing that made his neighbors bang on the walls and ceiling, shouting at him to keep it down. "Don't cry." Roy begged and Lian's eyes suddenly cleared up. She sniffed once and played with her shirt. Roy looked down at her clothes and shook his head.
She was a complete mess. Dinah would have a fit. He could hear her yelling now…
Roy sighed again, "Come on…" He stood up and led Lian to the bathroom, sitting her on the counter and wetting a washcloth sitting by the sink. He ran the rag down her arms and rubbed her hands hoping they were getting cleaner. Lian watched him warily. He gave her a look when he realized there was snot running down her face.
"Ugh…" he swiped at it with the rag and shivered when more came out. Snot, mucus… anything coming from the nose, was always rather gross to him. He absolutely deplored it when he was sick and his nose just would not stop running. Like freaking Niagara Falls or something… He absently wondered if Lian was getting a cold.
After a few more swipes it seemed to stop, Roy sighed in relief. Children are a lot of work, he thought. Then another thought crossed his mind. Where did Lian get that candy from…? He watched her watch him for about five seconds and then decided it didn't particularly matter at this point. She had probably done it a few weeks ago, sneaking forks one by one, under her bed to meet their sticky fate. Little gremlin… but she had admitted to it, sort of, and seemed to be sorry, so…
You can't stay mad at a child, it's unethical.
Roy helped Lian off of the counter and herded her into her bedroom where he placed her on her bed. Roy then moved to Lian's closet and started rifling through random articles of clothing. When he had first received Lian, there was but a small package for him to take as Lian's belongings. It held a few shirts, a pair of shorts, two pairs of child jeans that Lian had already outgrown and three summer dresses. And being that it was nearing winter… Roy had to go out and buy her all new outfits. Put a dent in his wallet for a while, but what kind of father would he be if he let Lian run around in rags and other clothes that had barely fit her?
"Alright, kiddo, we've got a date tonight with some pals… you want to go casual or stun them with one of your dazzling outfits we bought a few weeks ago…?" Lian stared at Roy, she scrunched her face up and looked at the ceiling, placing a tiny finger on her chin as thought she were thinking. After a moment Lian stood up off of the bed and walked over to her dresser. Struggling to pull open one of the bottom drawers she looked inside and started haphazardly throwing things across the room until she found what she was looking for. A pair of pink cotton shorts nearly landed on Roy's head and he narrowly dodged it.
She made a noise as she seemed to find what she was looking for. Whipping around to show Roy, she showed off a green t-shirt with a smiling cat on it. Roy's eyes softened and he felt a dull ache in his chest.
It was one of the t-shirts Cheshire had given her… It was probably Lian's favorite shirt.
It reminded them both of her mother.
Roy smiled wryly and gave Lian a look, she pleaded with her eyes. Roy sighed, kicked at the white carpet and shrugged. "Alright…" Lian squealed in delight and ran to put the shirt on. "Just try not to get dirty, okay?" He pulled a pair of simple blue jeans out for her with a dark brown jacket in case it got cold. When Lian walked back into the room, they looked at each other again. Roy glanced at the shirt and sighed, a little dejected looking. Roy sighed. How much longer until Dinah showed up?
Looking at the small Hello Kitty clock on Lian's wall he saw that he had about half an hour left… which was just enough time for Lian to watch one Backyardigans episode. He called the toddler into the living room and flipped on the TV. Lian was immediately engrossed in the show and it gave Roy enough time to finish eating his meal from Denny's and look through a magazine when he heard a sudden knock on the door, Dinah ended up letting herself in.
"Hey, I'm here!" He heard her venture further into the apartment, "Hello, Lian, where's your daddy?" He heard Lian mutter something unintelligible and Dinah moved into the kitchen, "Ro--! Oh, there you are." She was wearing a nice blouse, a black leather jacket and pair of slacks. "Well, how do I look?" Roy shrugged.
"I don't know, you look nice. Lian's outfit's on her bed." Roy hurried past Dinah as she huffed at him. "I'm taking a shower now, you know where Lian is. I'll be out in fifteen minutes, alright?" He glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 4:30.
Dinah nodded and shooed him off, making some inane comment that he was starting to smell.
Roy took a hot shower, hoping to calm himself for the whatever the night might hold for him, and he hoped that nothing bad happened while he was off being Roy Harper instead of Arsenal.
"Roy? You ready to leave yet? Lian's getting antsy!" Dinah called to him from the living room after he had gotten dressed, wearing a simple t-shirt and jacket with a pair of his old worn jeans. He ran his fingers through his hair, already it was drying, and shook his head hoping he didn't look like some idiot.
He sighed and braced himself. Here goes…
Author's Note: Well, there it is! Over 2,500 words! My longest chapter so far… I don't know if you noticed but I started rambling… like the snot part? That was just me losing focus a little… There's actually a lot of stuff I need to work on. Like Raven is more out of character then I had intended for her to be. Also, for anyone wondering where everyone else is? They will be in the story, so stop fretting. Garfield, Victor, and Kori will be in the story, I promise you. I don't think it would be a very good Teen Titans story if half the characters were missing. You probably don't think it would be either. So let's not go down that road.
Gosh, it's been ten days since my last update. I'm sorry. That's longer than I wanted it, but I had not the time to sit down and upload, sorry.
Thanks anyway for reading. Next up: Dave and Buster's!! Don't miss it!
