Disclaimer: Bangerang! Or, it's four am and I've been up for a very long time. Do enjoy.
Whitewater
050. Dare
(Based on a true story.)
Continuity: Anytime
Playing truth or dare is not terribly fun. Watching the drunk kids down the street play truth or dare is fun.During certain times of the year Robin set extra patrols around the city. Those times of year included New Years, the weekend of the Super Bowl, the entire month of October, and late at night on the Fourth of July, after their own celebrations. Naturally, Starfire and Robin were patrolling together. At the nearest festival.
This was how Cyborg came to be sitting on a curb at the dead of night, watching as Raven and Beast Boy steered another car back into the correct lane before coming back to sit beside him again. He could hear them arguing as they came in to land.
"No Beast Boy, we are not playing truth-or-dare."
The flying squirrel on her shoulder chattered at her. "Because it's a waste of time."
Cyborg wondered, amused, how Raven had gotten so good at interpreting Beast Boy's comments when he wasn't actually speaking.
Raven touched down next to him and Beast Boy leapt from her shoulder, changing into human as he hit the ground. "But Raven-"
Cyborg interrupted him quickly. "Drunk, or playing games?"
"Playing that stupid game," Raven replied, assuming a lotus position. Recently a game had become popular with the teenagers in Jump City where they waited until late at night and drove in the wrong lane as long as they could without having to swerve out of the path of an incoming car. Before they'd figured out what was going on, there had been a huge upswing in traffic accidents, and tonight was even worse because people were drinking as well.
"You might not want to do anything that involves closing your eyes just yet, Rae." Cyborg sounded cheerful enough that Raven opened her eyes again.
"And, why is that?"
Cyborg nodded down the street at a group of celebrants. "You may not want to play truth-or-dare, but they certainly seem to be having fun."
Shortly after he said that, a teenaged boy went running down the street in his boxers holding a fake torch full of sparklers singing "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy!" There was a shocked silence from all three Titans for a moment.
Beast Boy broke it by asking wistfully, "Are you sure you don't wanna play, Raven?"
051. Caroling
Continuity: Anytime
Cyborg raised an eyebrow when he saw Raven waiting for them, hovering in front of the Tower's door. "Blackmail?"
"Blackmail," she replied. "You?"
"…Blackmail."
"And Starfire?"
Cyborg shrugged as Raven settled lightly to the ground. "I think she just wanted to go caroling."
Raven sighed, but then Beast Boy and Starfire caught up to them, a wicked gleam in the changeling's eyes.
"Ready?" he asked his assembled…ah… "recruits." He was met with three nods, one wary, one delighted, one resigned. Beast Boy grinned widely and rang the doorbell. Robin answered after a long moment, raising an eyebrow at his team standing on their own doorstep. Before he could comment, the four Titans outside broke into song.
"Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg-"
The door slammed shut.
Robin was the only one to sleep inside that night. The rest slept on the roof.
052. I do believe in fairies
Continuity: I've no idea. If you figure it out, do let me know?
"I cannot believe we're doing this."
Beast Boy leaned back and grinned up at her. He was seated at her feet on a dark energy disc, claiming his arms were tired. "Why not? Robin gave us all time to relax."
"…I really don't think this is what he meant."
"You're off course," Beast Boy pointed out cheerfully. "Second star to the right, Rae! And straight on til morning!"
"Beast Boy, he's not real. You do know that, right?"
Beast Boy crossed his arms and….well, pouted. There was just no other word for it. It was ador-infuriating. It was infuriating.
"But Peter Pan is real, Rae-ven!"
"No, he's not."
"Is too."
"Is not."
"Is too."
"Is- I am not having this discussion!"
They were silent.
For about five minutes.
Then Beast Boy said sulkily, "But he is real, Raven."
"…I'm not doing this again."
"He is! I can't explain it, and I don't know how he's real, but he is! I know it like I know that fire burns and meat is bad!"
"Meat's only bad to you. Cyborg loves it."
"That's not the point!"
Raven sighed. Dawn was streaking the sky in hues of gold and red. "Peter Pan is not real. Got it?"
Beast Boy hunched up against her legs, drawing his knees to his chest and hugging his legs. Despondently, he said, "He is. He's real. He's real in those moments when you just want to run and play, when you're between awake and asleep, when you're surrounded by friends and you're doing something childish like…like…like having a food fight, or something. Or building a fort out of boxes. Yeah. Me an' Star still do that sometimes. She'd believe in him, I know it."
"Starfire also believes in the Tooth Fairy."
"That's different. Peter Pan is-" Beast Boy was struggling to put his thoughts into words when Raven interrupted his thoughts.
"It's morning, Beast Boy, and we are a long way above the middle of the ocean with no land in-"
"An island!"
"-what?"
Beast Boy stood up suddenly, ignoring the way he sent them rocking about the sky, and pointed. "An island, right there!"
Raven blinked. There really was an island. Sighing again, she set them down gently just as the day dawned fully. Beast Boy was grinning bright enough to bring about the dawn all by himself. "See, Rae? There is an island."
"It isn't Neverland. It's just an island."
"But Raven," and the changeling turned and took a step towards the woods at the edge of the beach, "any island can be Neverland. And anyone can be Peter Pan. Neverland doesn't even have to be a real island, it's the island in your head... Don't you get it?"
"No, Beast Boy, I really don't."
The grin grew wider. "Then I guess I'll have to show you."
And he turned and raced deeper into the island.
After a moment Raven followed him.
GuardianSaiyoko: I had to. I really did. I was raised on Peter Pan. We watched different versions, we read the book, we watched Hook, we played Lost Boys, we dressed up as the characters at Hallowe'en, my mother used to refract light from her watch when we were little and tell us to go catch Tinkerbell. And we tried. I've dressed up as Peter and a friend dressed up as Hook and we staged their last fight in the middle of my English classroom. I could keep going but I have to go watch Finding Neverland now. Peter is real, by the way. So's the Neverland. You can find them both if you know how to look.
ShinobiCyrus has a new story up in the style of Whitewater, called Five Stories. If you've a moment go check it out.
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