Woah its been a while. I'm sorry guys, it's been hectic lately. If you're still reading, i appreciate it. I Hope it was worth the wait!
The next few days had proven to be difficult for everyone. Criminal activity seemed to be at increasing rates. Museums and jewelry stores were practically plundered, Convenience stores torn to shreds, even hardware stores. There was no patterns, no clues as to what was next, and though the team always got there in time to stop anyone from getting hurt, they weren't able to recover all of the stolen inventory. Sometimes the attacks were so frequent the team would split up, into two or three groups. All this going on while Dick still didn't have a new persona, and he had to suffice with a purely black suit and black mask, while his team called him anything from boss, to chief or occasionally still Robin. He was confused and stressed, and the team was tired.
He was mocked endlessly by criminals who guessed easily his change of appearance was no longer wanting to be known as The boy wonder. This of course led to more mockery from villainous type, and a more angry team leader. He tried not to bring his anger on the team, but several times he snapped and Cyborg and Beast Boy, and finally Raven had enough. She let lose a stream of harsh words and profanity about his attitude and actions lately, and just when everyone thought her true purpose was to tear him to shreds, she ended her rant with. "Whatever the hell your name is, you're the best damn team leader were ever gonna get, so stop letting those idiots get in your head." And all seemed okay for a moment, Dick had a small smile of confidence on his face as he silently thanked his team for putting up with him.
They managed to turn their attention back to the group of random criminals who seemed to be hitting up a camping supplies store, and were able to put a stop to it before they were able to get out the door with any heavy merchandise. The team was stumped as to why a camping store would even be on the list of targets to rob, and in the past few days only 1 bank got hit. Exhausted and confused, they returned to their tower in hopes to rest and recover for the night. And for the rest of the night, the alarm didn't sound once. They all slept in the next day, not even Beastboy awoke to train, and before long it was 2pm before Raven was the first to stroll out of her room with a growling stomach.
She began a brunch for the team, every comfort food she could think of and make with the food in the fridge, she would. Starfire came to help, finding great joy in the mashing of potatoes, and stirring of the gravy. The talked calmly and happily to each other, feeling as though the stress had almost diminished from the long sleep. Before long, the boys emerged from their quarters smelling the food, drool dripping from tongues that really should be in their mouths. They found a buffet displayed from all ends of the counters, smells wafting through the air, tummies growling, and warmth resonating between them all.
Dick kissed his girlfriend on the cheek and directed her to the kitchen table while he fixed them both a plate, snagging the bacon before Cy could take it all. Beastboy laid two gently hands on Ravens shoulders, rubbing softly at her muscles, she mewed softly, and leaned her head back into her touch. An action one wouldn't see from two people claiming to be just friends, but the group did their best to ignore it, as the pestering got them nowhere. Suddenly Beastboy smelled something different coming from the pan beneath Raven, he looked over her shoulder to peak. Before he got the chance she turned on her heels with a sweet grace, and presented the mysterious object to him on a plate.
"Tofu links." She smiled so warmly to him it made the food fresh from the skillet seem like ice. He took the plate from her in a daze, unable to register up a thank you as he seemed so struck by her smile. He'd never seen her smile like that before, he'd seen her smile plenty of times, but there was something he couldn't quite place. He steadied the plate in one hand, and laid his forehead against her like they'd done a hundred times before. "Thank you Rae."
She caressed his cheek softly before separating her forehead from his, and fixing herself a plate. The team looked on, but said nothing. The gesture was forgotten within minutes as they seemingly stuffed their face, uninterrupted for the first time in 5 days. The laughed and relaxed together like a family, like they used to do before everything got so crazy. Beastboy tried to start a food fight with Cyborg, who was entirely ready to retaliate. Raven quickly put a stop to that. "You will not be throwing any of the food i made." She roared the order, but she still had a smile on her face.
"Yes, please refrain from the fight of foods, as I myself collared those greens." StarFire chirped in.
"Everything has been delicious, I couldn't eat another bite." Dick stated as he wiped his mouth with a rag, and pat his stomach through his workout shirt. "But Raven and I made desserts." Star pressed again as she flew from the table to bring over an apple pie and a tub of vanilla ice cream.
Beast Boy raised an eye at Raven, "You made an apple pie?" He was bewildered, knowing Raven wasn't hopeless but having no idea she could make a whole apple pie.
"It was a Marie Callender's pie, we had it in the freezer." She admit with a small whine. The team laughed at the protest, and finished the entire pie without a crumb to spare. They all contributed to helping clean up, putting anyway any left over food, putting the dishes in the dishwasher, wiping the counters and table from fallen or lost food. Beast Boy shifted into a small dog, and went after anything on the floor that didn't have meat.
There was a quiet moment they stood in a semicircle, wondering what to do now, should they disperse and go back to their separate rooms. Sensing the hesitation, Garfield nudged Dick next to him, and gave him a look. "So we haven't been interrupted yet, what do you say we try and make this team day?" The leader suggested after seeing Garfield's face. They all agreed, and arranged for what they could in board games, and movies.
Of course Dick wiped the floor at Clue, but as always, pictionary Raven managed to take the cake. Her excitement during the game was incredible, shouting out answers and giving in enough energy for the team. They went through silly challenges, such as trying to hit a paper cup off Cyborgs head with rubber bands, traversing the common room blindfolded, and a new game Dick invented, how would you do it? Where he gave everyone a scenario of a villain and a setting, and a restriction, such as can't use powers, one arm is tied up, its pitch black in the room, etc, and they had to describe how they'd handle the situation. They found it fun, and no one pointed out that he someone managed to slip some form of training into team game day.
They ran out of games, but were too high on energy to sit and watch a movie, so Cyborg turned on the music station on the tv instead. They weren't terribly familiar with current music, being busy saving the city all the time, but the corner of the tv had the artist, song title, year, and album. They knew almost none of the songs, but Dick grabbed Stars hand and danced to some pop song. The group cheered them on with applause and whistles. When the next song started they moved the couch back and Beastboy took Ravens hand.
The music came blasting out of the speakers, something about Nothing holding me back, they weren't sure, but the dancing was slow and skillful, before becoming quick and beautiful. They were in sync with each other effortlessly they were pressed together tightly, and moving as one, than spinning and flying in beat with the music, and its changes. This wasn't just random movement, they learned how to dance. When the music ended, they were panting slightly, the remaining three clapped supportively at the two.
"Where did ya'll learn to do that?" Cyborg shouted as the applause died down. Raven blushed a little when she realized her and Garfield were still incredibly close.
"We took a few dance classes." The changeling admit rubbing the back of his neck. "We're trying to do new things, so we've been taking some classes."
"Some? As in more than one type? What else are you two taking?" Cyborg pressed further as he crossed his arms over his chest.
The two dancers exchanged a look of nervousness, but ultimately Garfield continued to speak. "We took a few cooking classes, we tried a pottery class, a knitting class, a drawing class. Even tried fishing. Dancing and cooking were the only two we really did more than once." To put emphasis on it, he took Raven's hand again and spun her once before dipping her gracefully. She complied and followed suit with his move.
"How long have you been doing that?" Dick asked referring to the multiple classes. They continued to exchange details about the multiple excursions, and sessions that had been going on nearly 6 months. The reason was they were trying to branch out more, get into the community more, ever since the little boy who didn't think Raven had a face. When all the questions were asked, and all the explanations given, they agreed it was time to wind down for a movie. Raven went to change into pajamas, rather than her cloak and leotard. Leaving the rest of the team to build a big bed on the the floor out of pillows and blankets for them all to lay on.
Cyborg and Dick were exchanging glances at each other and motioning to Beast Boy, they didn't know if someone should try asking again, or if it was useless, even Star picked up on the silent conversation between the two and tried to join in. Finally when no one could make out the glances she was trying to give, she caved in and spoke out loud. "Raven is quite a wondrous person, is she not?"
The other two froze, waiting for Garfield's reaction. "Yeah she is." There was a moment of silence as they wondered if something else should be said, but Garfield continued after a few seconds, placing the last pillow on the makeshift pillow headboard as he spoke. "That's why i'm in love with her." Everyone froze.