(A/N)- So like originally I'd planned to write a different chapter than this but then I noticed a distinct lack of Cy + Rae gen/friendship/bonding in my work recently and moved immediately to rectify that. And then went and got distracted with things like a weekend Women's Retreat, third-year applications, and my first date. (Still haven't written that first chapter I was planning on. Blast it.) So I've been at work on this for a while now.
Includes the first-ever onscreen appearance of Cyborg's girlfriend, Sarah Simms. Who I totally spaced out on doing actual comic-related research on. (*whack!*)
Disclaimer: I used to own a really nice bouquet of flowers but then they all kind of wilted and I had to throw them out. Pretty while they lasted. Of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with my non-owning Teen Titans...
Snark Bait
Cyborg grumbled a little as he worked his wrench, tightening something on the undercarriage of his car. This task wasn't really necessary (in fact, he was pretty sure it was completely useless) but he needed the distraction from his current project, which was lying in twisted, charred, and otherwise unrecognizable pieces on the work table at that moment.
"Need any help?" a familiar gravely drone asked.
Cyborg slid out from beneath the T-Car to see Raven standing near the right front wheel. He set down the wrench and started picking himself back up. "Nah." he told her. "I got this one."
"You sure?" Raven pressed, violet eyes sweeping the room and settling on the parts on the table.
The young man stood to his feet. "You know how to weld a thermal imaging casing back together?" he asked skeptically.
Raven grimaced. "Um…" she said, then shrugged cluelessly.
He chuckled a little. "That's okay. I didn't expect you to." he told her, moving over the workbench and picking up random pieces, looking at them a moment and trying to figure out what they used to be before giving up, putting them back down, and moving on to another set; a process that had been repeating itself for about half an hour before he'd gotten fed up and decided to futz with his baby for a while.
Raven walked over to the table, looking around his shoulder for a peek at what he was working on. (Or pretending to be working on rather.) "So…" she queried, peering at the wreckage, "what exactly is all that?"
Cyborg gave an aggrieved sigh, then picked up a couple of the more identifiable parts. "This," he explained, "used to be part of the T-Ship's back engine." He put those pieces down and moved on to another cluster. "This," he continued, "was supposed to be that new thermal imaging device I was trying to install in the Tower's security system." He moved to the end of the worktable and Raven followed and watched him as he lifted up one last mangled metal part. "And this," the cybernetic teen finished, "is all that's left of what once was the gas tank of the R-cycle."
The empath's eyebrows raised and she blinked, a bit taken aback. "What happened to the R-cycle?"
The older boy tossed the part back on the table and resumed his grumbling. "Boy Genius wrecked it last night on patrol. The bike came out mostly unscathed, thank heaven, but something punctured the tank and leaked gasoline all over the underside." He rubbed the top of his head in frustration. "I had to pry it out. You know there are only three tech companies in Jump City that even make this kind of tank anymore?"
"For good reason I'd imagine." Raven put in, looking around Cyborg at the gaping puncture wound in the cylinder, now beginning to wonder if a certain Boy Wonder was hiding injuries from her again and whether or not it would be prudent of her to walk right up to him and ask him point blank.
"Right. Anyway, I'm just trying to identify all the pieces so I know what to get when I go to the auto parts shop this afternoon." Cyborg grabbed a rag and wiped the grease off his palms, then sidled a glance at her. "You wanna come with?"
Raven put her thoughts to the side for the moment. "Sure." she replied. She breezed out of the garage airily. "I'll get my coin purse."
-TT-
The streets weren't too crowded that afternoon, as the empath and the half-robot walked in companionable silence. Raven welcomed the relative quiet, closing her eyes and taking the opportunity to clear her head and calm her senses. To her side, she could pick up traces of nervous excitement from Cyborg. Raven cracked open her eyes and sent a guarded suspicious look at him. He seemed unusually happy to be out and about today.
Her ponderings were distracted as they passed by a bookstore. Raven's steps noticeably slowed and then stopped as the empath turned and gazed with wide eyes through the front window with something akin to fangirlish glee. A passerby might almost have expected her to press her hands and forehead against the glass.
"Mind if I go inside for a moment?" she asked, pointing through the window.
Cyborg glanced back, confused, then his eyes flicked towards the display inside that was closest to the window.
Oh, right. Raven's favorite suspense author had a new book out.
He smiled warmly at her and nodded. "Not at all. Take as long as you need."
Raven went straight for the door, pulled it open, and had soon disappeared into the store.
Cyborg crossed his arms and leaned against the storefront nonchalantly for a moment. Long enough to make sure the empath was thoroughly occupied. Then he turned his head looking up and down the street, grinned, rubbed his hands together, and pulled out his cell phone, pressing a certain number on speed dial.
-TT-
By this time Raven had reached the display dedicated to the latest best-selling release from her favorite author. She made the mistake of cracking the book open as soon as she got there and for several minutes was unable to tear her eyes away, hungrily devouring the opening chapters. Reluctantly though, she finally pried her gaze off the pages, closed the book, and made her purchase.
New book hanging in a plastic bag from her fingers she stepped back out onto the street, ready to apologize for taking so long, but stopped. Her mouth closed and a puzzled expression came over her face. Now where had Cyborg gone?
She frowned and looked around, relaxing when she spotted the half-robot in the park across the street. She waited for the traffic to clear, then stepped off the sidewalk and walked up to him.
It took a moment for him to notice she was there. He was looking off, distracted by something and Raven made it all the way back to his side without him realizing it. Even then he didn't acknowledge her until she spoke up.
"Cyborg-"
Cyborg jumped and shrieked in a completely undignified way. "Aaah! Raven! What are you doing here?"
One of her eyebrows lifted. "Accompanying you." she reminded him. "On the trip the auto parts store. Which you invited me on."
He sweatdropped. "Uh… right, right. Of course!" he covered quickly.
Before Raven could ask just what was up with him, a young and identifiably female voice called out.
"Cyborg!"
The two Titans turned to see a teenage girl, hair golden, eyes blue, skin light and clear, and with a bright smile waving at them from a distance. The girl then dropped her arm, readjusted the bag on her shoulder and began walking towards them.
Raven's face took on a neutral "Aha!" expression as she realized what was going on. No wonder Cyborg had practically pushed her through the bookshop doors.
"Sarah!" Cyborg exclaimed, trying to sound surprised and failing miserably. "Wow, hey, I um… didn't expect to see you here." he added in a lower voice, for Raven's hearing only, obviously hoping to play the situation off.
"Nice try." Raven said, smirking. "Do I get an introduction or what?"
He gave a sheepish grin. "All right, you caught me." he confessed. As the young woman reached them, he gestured to her with one of his hands. "Sarah, this is my friend Raven. Raven, this is Sarah."
Sarah extended her hand with a friendly smile that reminded Raven of a youthful kindly kindergarten teacher. "Nice to meet you." she said.
"Likewise." Raven replied, giving the girl's hand a quick, firm shake. "So you're the mysterious girlfriend that Cyborg sneaks off to see once each week."
"I take it he doesn't talk about me much." she laughed.
"Well we do have a devious internet-savvy little green minion as a roommate." the empath said, shrugging. "Plus it's not exactly smart for who you're dating to be public knowledge in our line of work. You tend to want to keep your romantic entanglements unobtrusive." She paused a moment, then amended, "Unless you're the two most lovesick and sexually repressed members of the team, that is."
Sarah laughed again and in the corner of her eye Raven could swear she saw Cyborg's expression turn to pure bliss at the sound of his girlfriend's voice.
"Oh dear, Sparkplug told me all about that." the young lady told her.
Cyborg's bliss vanished suddenly and he blushed a little, cringing. Raven stifled a snort of laughter.
"Sparkplug?" she repeated, eyebrow raising, leaning in with perceptible interest and an evil, almost predatory grin, inviting the girl with her posture to please continue and dish out as many details as possible if you can manage it thank you.
"Anyway-" Cyborg interrupted loudly, desperately attempting to change the subject. "I just wanted to touch base with you real quick before we made our way to the auto parts store. New gas tank for the R-cycle and all."
The girl shifted her bag to her other shoulder, becoming excited. "Oh! I'm going that way myself, actually. Why don't I come with you?"
The half-robot's eyes widended in horror. "Uh…" He coughed and stuttered nervously, beginning to sweat. "That really isn't neccessa-"
"Oh, I insist." Raven cut off, coming forward to take Sarah by the arm, that conniving and devilish smirk still in place. The empath began leading the girl down the walk before her cybernetic teammate could protest, bending towards her ear in a conspiratorial way. "So tell me Sarah… how exactly did Cyborg get that,"-she looked back over her shoulder and wiggled her eyebrows smugly-"'nickname'?"
Cyborg was beginning to see the grave error and heinous mistake he'd made in introducing his girlfriend to Raven.
-TT-
Said girlfriend hit it off with the empath quite well. She walked with them all the way to the store, chatting casually and telling Raven a myriad of embarrassing stories about Cyborg, which made the cybernetic teen sink further and further into his shoulders as time went by, falling behind the two girls as he turned profusely red. They paid no heed to his grousing. Raven, in fact, started putting in a few stories of her own as they entered the shop and trailed along behind him. Cyborg eventually resorted to slouching and grumbling under his breath as he picked up the necessary parts and took them to counter, slapping the change down in front of the exceedingly too cheerful adolescent clerk with a terse grumble.
"Have a nice day!" the clerk beamed.
Cyborg grunted in response, taking his stuff without making eye contact.
Raven glanced forward at that and chuckled. "I think we've crushed his sense of male dignity into powder." she commented quietly to Sarah.
The girl's mouth turned upward in a wry smile, blue eyes glinting with shared humor. "Ah, he'll get over it. One thing I've learned about him is that he has a remarkably tough ego."
"You can say that again." the empath agreed. She fell silent a moment as they stepped back into the sunshine of the late afternoon, studying the girl with quiet contemplation. Her senses read that, underneath the young lady's lighthearted teasing, she exuded an aura of warm affection for her cybernetic boyfriend. "You really like him, don't you?" Raven asked.
Sarah averted her gaze with a shy grin, brushing her hair behind her ear. "Yeah… He's considerate, caring… he treats me right. He may act grouchy sometimes, but inside," she winked, "he's really just a big soft teddy bear."
Raven nodded, satisfied. Sarah straightened.
"Well," she said, "I'd better get going." She caught up to Cyborg and stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry for ribbing you so much today baby. See you soon?"
Cyborg tried to look disgruntled, but couldn't quite manage it with her good-naturedly playful expression on him. He gave up and dropped the scowl, shoulders slumping. "Yeah okay." he mumbled. "Love you."
"Love you too Sparkplug." Sarah said, hugging him around the arm before heading off down the other street, calling back a goodbye to Raven as she went.
The two Titans were rooted to the sidewalk for a few minutes, not saying anything. Once his girlfriend was safely out of earshot, Cyborg raised his head and glared at Raven.
"If you say a word to anyone-" he warned.
"Your secrets are safe with me. I promise." Raven assured him quickly.
Cyborg sighed in relief. "Thanks Rae. Really." He rubbed his head. "Having Grass Stain bug me about her is enough."
Raven shrugged. "She's sweet, pretty, and genuinely enamored of you. What's there for him to tease you about?" she asked rhetorically. Then her eyes narrowed. "Of course," she informed him, "if you ever abandon me in a bookstore again, he will be hearing about the mashed peas, chicken suit, and wall outlet story."
Cyborg gulped.
-TT-
Robin and Beast Boy were both seated on the couch when Raven entered the common room after she and Cyborg got back, engaged in a tense video game match. Beast Boy was bouncing up and down, clicking buttons wildly and keeping up a running stream of bravado.
"Ha! I have you down to half-strength! I own this round!"
Robin bit his lip in concentration, focusing intently on the movement of his character on the screen.
Raven rolled her eyes at their antics and plopped down into a seat, cracking open her precious new tome.
"Hey Raven!" Beast Boy called over his shoulder. "How was your trip?"
"It went well." the empath said, already picking up where she'd left off in the bookstore. "I met Cyborg's girlfriend."
"Really?" the changeling asked, perking up and twisting around on the couch to face her, forgetting about the game for a moment. "Dude, what's she like?"
Raven put her feet up and turned the page. "She's nice. Works with kids at the Perez community center."
"Cool." Beast Boy turned back to the game. "HEY!" he cried.
A perceptible smirk appeared on Robin's face and his button-flicking intensified.
Cyborg entered the room at that moment, still in a sour mood. He tromped across the floor, dropped one of his bags with a loud thomp! on the coffee table, and leaned over towards Robin's ear.
"You owe me." he hissed darkly.
The Boy Wonder went still a little nervously (except for his fingers of course), eyes widening slightly, wondering what on earth he had done. Cyborg did not bother to explain, however, gathering up his remaining bags and heading off for the sanctuary of his garage. He deliberately chose to avoid the amused, teasing look Raven was sending him overtop her book.
"Watch out for mashed peas." she teased.
"Don't push it." he growled, the door sliding behind him.
Raven mentally filed away all her new snark fodder and gleefully absorbed herself in her book.
(A/N)- Still cannot believe that I succumbed to Critical Research Failure.