Hello hello! Welcome back to Titans Tales. This chapter is going to focus on the bromance between our favorite changeling and cyborg heroes-so super light hearted, especially after last chapter which was more existential and deeper. Who doesn't love silly best friend romps?! This chapter takes place about a year before Where Loyalty Lies, so all the characters are pretty young. I hope you enjoy! I don't own Teen Titans.

Chapter 15: Office Hours-(2)

The line inched forward slowly. Too slowly. Cyborg tapped his foot impatiently-just one more person. Then he could FINALLY get his much-needed parts for his Baby. Arms clutching his piston, engine block, crankshaft, and a series of valves, he sighed in relief as the cashier gave the receipt to the person in front of him and stated, "Next."

Taking a step forward, he smiled at the guy behind the counter. "How ya doin' today?" The man blinked blankly back at him-guess the 'Cy' charm wasn't as infectious as before. Coughing into his hand, he gingerly placed all the parts onto the counter. "So, what's the damage?"

The clerk took each part slowly, moving at the speed of a sloth, reading each barcode with his scanner. "It'll be $413."

"Pump the brakes!" Cyborg slapped his forehead, checking his bank account on the screen on his arm. "Yeah…that ain't gonna happen."

"Then I guess you're not getting the parts."

"What about just the cylinder and the valves?"

The clerk shrugged again. "It'll be $204." Cyborg's face fell-that was still too much until his funds from the government came at the end of the month. Appraising the robotic man's face, the cashier raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you just use some of your body parts? Do you drink gas?"

Seriously?! Cyborg grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "Just the valves, then." He quickly paid, snatching the pieces from the cashier before he could even offer him a bag and stomped out of the store. "Jerk. How dumb can people be-use my own parts? Why don't you use your own arm to paddle a canoe or your legs to move your car like the Flintstones?"

He drove home (much more aggressively than he usually did) then clomped through the tower, dumping his measly spoils in the garage before going to the Common Room for some food. As the door swished open, he was surprised to see Raven and Beastboy sitting together at the counter eating lunch. He really shouldn't have been surprised-they had been spending a lot of time together lately. Evidently his emotions were overwhelming because Raven winced then instantly Cyborg felt a feeling of calmness flood over him. "Seriously, Raven? I want to be mad!"

"Sorry. You were just so…loud."

"Look-first I run out of money since my dad cut off my funds when I turned 21 last year, so I have to wait for our paychecks from the government each month. THEN I go to get some parts and they raised their prices so I can't buy anything except some stupid valves. But THEN the guy at the register says 'Why don't you use some body parts? Do you drink gas?' Like I want to be this way, man?" He snorted in frustration as another wave of peace washed over him. "Come on, Rae! Let me vent!"

Raven dipped her head, tucking a piece of her violet hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry, just trying to help." She glanced at Beastboy and raised an eyebrow for help. Cyborg sighed but knew some best friend advice was about to come. Fortunately, the green teen didn't say a word as he merely shrugged his shoulders.

The cybernetic man sighed, leaning over the bar to face them. "I just…I miss being so carefree and not having to worry about money and Dad sending me his guilt money for turning me into this robot. You're lucky to be teenagers-you still have so much time ahead of you and not having to worry about anything."

"Lucky to be teenagers?" Beastboy shook his head dubiously. "Dude-we can't do anything. Legally-I just became able to vote last year! And I STILL can't drink!"

The empath wrinkled her nose. "Why would you want to? You already have a hard-enough time thinking straight as it is."

As the changeling opened his mouth to retort, he suddenly gasped and snapped his fingers. "Duh!" The insult instantly forgotten, he turned toward his best friend. Oh, this should be good. "Cy-why not do what Raven told me to do when I wanted my moped? You should get a job! But not some '9-to-5' regular office hours type of job but a fun one you'd like and be good at!"

A job? Cyborg scrunched up his face, his human eye squinting with doubt.

"How did you make that connection?" Raven asked, tugging at her hood with a raised eyebrow. "Wait…is that why you got that job at that weird alien meat restaurant?"

Nodding his head enthusiastically, the green teen smiled at her with a fang poking out of his lower lip. "Well, yeah! You're the smartest person I know. I listen to what you have to say!"

Blood rushed to Raven's face as she pulled up her hood. Cyborg noticed the lights flicker as she merely shrugged at him. "You heard the kid."

"HEY! I'm 19 now, just like you!"

Before this could dissolve into a typical Beastboy/Raven squabble (which admittedly hadn't happened in a long time) Cyborg crossed his arms over his chest. "Okay, I'll bite. What do y'all have in mind?"

The pair paused, glancing at one another before Beastboy snapped his fingers. "Dude-I got it! Why don't we work together?" Huh-Cyborg hadn't thought about that. Before he could ask what he meant, Beastboy continued for him. "We could totally start a food truck together!"

"A food truck?" Raven asked, catching Cyborg's eye. He was on the same page as her-this could not go well.

"Ye of little faith!" Beastboy waved Raven away, causing Cyborg to snort. "Look-between Cy's cooking skills and my awesomeness-we could totally open a food truck!"

"I dunno…" Cyborg ended up laughing as he and Raven spoke at the same time.

Suddenly, the door swished open again to reveal the royal resident of the Tower. She clapped her hands, smiling at them. "Oh, Friend Beastboy, I think that is a most wonderous idea! I heard you from the hallway! Don't you agree, Nightwing?"

The leader of the team followed slowly behind her, nodding his head once. "Yeah, of course."

"Do you even know what you agreed to?" Cyborg asked, smirking at the small man. Nightwing merely narrowed his eyes at him behind his mask. Turning back to Beastboy, he crossed his arms. "Okay, I'm not saying I'm agreeing to this-but if I did-" He noticed Beastboy slap the table victoriously with a smile, causing him to roll his eyes. "IF I did, how would we start? Besides getting a truck but how would we get one of those?"

Nightwing leaned forward, smacking Cyborg on his robotic shoulder twice. "I might be able to help with that."

Sighing in defeat, Cyborg leaned his head forward, resting his chin on his chest. "I must be desperate."

Early the next morning, Nightwing called the whole team out to an abandoned lot near a convenience store. Rubbing his bleary human eye, Cyborg took in the sight of the truck in front of him. "Ugh! What is this piece of crap?" The siding was faded with some scantily clad woman riding a dinosaur through the ring of a volcano, the paint peeling near the mostly flat tires.

"Hey, this is all I got. Take it or leave it." Nightwing shrugged, looking almost normal in his civilian clothes. Cyborg skeptically looked at the piece of junk but noticed Beastboy walk up to the truck, running a hand over the side as if deep in thought.

"This should work. I can handle the detailing. But what to cook. Oh-what about salads?"

"Pass-I am not gonna own some wimpy lettuce factory. We're doing BBQ."

"Unless it's vegetarian-not going to happen. Tofu tacos?"

"What? Man-ain't nobody wanna eat your tofu stuff. Burger?"

"Okay-but only if they're veggie burgers."

Cyborg groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. "Ugh…fine. Veggie burgers it is. This city is full of enough hippies and veggie-lovers like you that we should be rolling in the dough."

"Please-why would one roll in dough?" Starfire asked, causing everyone to laugh.

The next few days were a flurry of activity getting everything prepared. Luckily it was a slow crime week so Cyborg could focus on his menu and getting the permits and parking ready. The only setback was naming the food truck (which almost ended in physical blows) but the team settled on the name 'Super Hungry Bros'. The heroes decided to stick with their hero identities instead of using halo-rings (as Starfire said, to bring in all the publicity.)

Finally, the day arrived. Early Saturday morning, the whole team congregated back at the newly renovated truck and gasped-it looked amazing. The old picture now was two burgers with capes flying behind them, surrounded by multiple vegetables with smiley faces. The tires were replaced (Cyborg felt like a proud dad that Beastboy remembered how to fix the tires) and it looked ready to cook on the inside. "Wow-you did a great job, Beastboy!" Nightwing stated, running a hand affectionally over the paint. Beastboy shrugged, fringing modesty.

"I always knew you could draw, Beastboy, but I am still very impressed." Raven stated, cocking her head to inspect the detailing.

Cyborg glanced at the only two teenagers of the group, wondering how she knew he possessed that talent. Peeking at Nightwing, he raised his eyebrows in confusion but the team leader merely shrugged, just as clueless as him.

Face heating up, Beastboy rubbed the back of his neck. "Wow, thanks Rae…ven. Now I wish I had a cloak to hide behind." Quickly trying to turn the attention off himself, the green teen twirled around and clapped Cyborg on the shoulder. "Ready to bring in the bacon?"

"Hell, yeah!" Cyborg pumped his fist into the air, dashing into the driver's seat of the truck. Beastboy followed suit and smashed into the passenger seat. Clicking in his seatbelt, he smiled down at his friends as he turned on the old engine. It sputtered to life but it would work-if only Cyborg had money to give it an upgrade. Maybe after today they'd have a little extra cash…"Well, wish us luck!"

Raven and Nightwing quietly wished him luck but Starfire quickly pecked both Beastboy and Cyborg on the cheek before waving them off. "The best of lucks! I shall be the first in line!" With that, the dynamic duo drove off to the food truck park to get a spot. Cyborg smiled, turning up the tunes. It was a new girl-power song featuring a new K-pop star. So sue him-he loved K-pop!

The tips of Beastboy's ears twitched as he swiveled around to stare out the window. "Uhh…99'er, we have a problem off the starboard side. Do you read me, over?"

"Dude why are you talking like that?" Cyborg asked but adjusted his mirrors. "What in the…" BAM! Swerving to the left, he just missed a grappling hook that aimed for his front tires. "They can't be serious! What are they trying to do to our Super Hungry Bros Truck?"

Surrounding the duo on all sides were a series of other food trucks. The competing drivers must have been vying for the same spot at the food truck park as them-and they weren't about to have some novice superhero foodie wannabes stand in their way! Cyborg swerved again, missing another truck who splattered the side with paintballs. "Are they trying to kill us? Those could blind us!"

Cyborg suddenly got déjà vu from one of Nightwing's favorite movies-Mad Max. Each car was tricked out-one taco truck even pounded a large bass drum as they drove through the city. They wove in and out of traffic, barely a step ahead of the competition. "Looks like we're in a spot war, Cy!" Beastboy yelped, ducking as some fireworks exploded outside of their truck, causing the Gyro truck to almost slam into the side of a building. "Punch it!"

The early morning traffic did not help him 'punch it', many people shouting at him and the other trucks. Cyborg didn't feel bad at all-he was more worried about getting to his spot alive! Three trucks sandwiched their truck, the passengers swirling grappling hooks as if to stop them. "Dude…dude…DUDE!" Beastboy shouted, gripping his armrest in panic. Cyborg smirked-why did anyone doubt his driving skills? He suddenly slammed on the brakes, almost flipping over and quickly let his foot off the pedal. The three trucks (all those poor ruined tacos) lassoed themselves around each other, realizing too late their mistake as they crashed into another. It was a beautiful sound to Cyborg's ears-though he made sure no one was hurt before continuing to drive on. Beastboy laughed, waving at the owners of the vehicles, who yelled and shook their fists at them. "Officer, we have a three clown-car pileup on I-5. Send dispatchers asap-we have hurt pride, over."

Laughing with his best friend, Cyborg thought they were scot-free when he suddenly gasped and jerked the wheel to the right. Almost hitting a minivan full of nuns (man, was this real life or a movie?) Cyborg felt the edge of his tire barely brush the line of nails that were thrown in front of them. "Whoa-that was too close…" He breathed, exhaling out slowly. Beastboy gave a slightly-panicked laugh and tried to wave at the Curry and the Empanada food truck owners who looked shocked they missed blowing their tires.

Finally, Cyborg drove down the interstate, the sound of the drum slowly fading into the background. His knuckles were locked tight as he pulled into the food truck area. When they saw the food truck park, he cried out and quickly spun a 180 degree turn to slam into a parking spot. He barely missed hitting an Kabob truck, who shouted at him as they drove to find another place to sell their food. Both he and Beastboy looked at one another and burst into laughter-it had been a while since they had had such a strange non-hero encounter like that. "Well alright then." Cyborg stated, crawling back into the truck and turning on the burners. "Let's get started. It'll probably be a while before anyone shows up-"

As he opened the window, his mouth fell open. Standing with hands pressed together in excitement was Starfire. She squealed and began to bounce up and down. "I would like an order of the veggie burger with extra mustard, please!" She exclaimed, beaming at her friends. Cyborg blinked-how did she beat them here? Glancing behind her, he noticed Nightwing and Raven standing there with skeptical looks but trying to show their support.

"Uhh…Sure, Star. I'll make all y'all one." Cyborg quickly got to work, ignoring Beastboy who scuttled around inside as a crab connecting wires and getting the burners going. After a few minutes, all the veggies, tofu, and bread were ready to cook and Cyborg got straight to it. He had seen BB do this enough times to get the jest. Finally, after a few minutes, he plopped three veggie burgers into paper holders and gave Starfire over ten packets of mustard. "Okay-now y'all be honest. I want to know the verdict."

"Why are we eating burgers for breakfast?" Raven mused, eyeing the food wearily.

"Just eat it." Nightwing shrugged, stuffing his mouth with a huge bite. Raven followed suit, though with more delicacy. As all three of their teammates chewed, Beastboy hopped onto Cyborg's shoulder as a squirrel to see the verdict. Cyborg swallowed, his mouth dry. Why was he so nervous?

Raven was surprisingly the first to speak. "This is good-though it would be better for if it wasn't for breakfast."

"YES!" Cyborg threw his hands into the air in victory, Beastboy excitedly gliding around him as a flying squirrel. Popping back into his human form, he grinned at his teammates, throwing his arms around Starfire and Nightwing. Cyborg thrust his hands on his hips, looking playfully at his friends. "Why did you doubt my cooking skills?"

"Oh-it was not your skills we doubted, Friend Cyborg. It was the vegetables." Starfire laughed, dabbing a bit of mustard off of Nightwing's chin. "And Raven is correct-this was most delectable!" Nightwing was too busy eating his burger so he just nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, Beastboy shooed away his friends as an orangutan before turning back into himself. "Okay, thanks for stopping by-now we got a crowd to catch. And I can't do that with you guys hogging the line!" He suddenly smacked something onto his mouth and revealed a fake, black curly mustache. Raven snorted but with a look from Nightwing didn't say a word. Ignoring their friends, Beastboy rushed forward. "Come one! Come all! For the best food your taste-buds have ever experienced! The amazing Cyborg will tantalize your senses with his astounding culinary skills!" (Cyborg frowned-when did he learn all those big words?) "Step right up! Yes-you sir! Want to eat the food of superheroes? Then come on down, don't be shy!"

A crowd was slowly forming. If Cyborg could turn his eyes into dollar signs-he would! Finally, the first customer came up. "Uhh, can I have a superhero burger? Is that what it's called?"

"You got it, dude!" Beastboy suddenly appeared behind Cyborg, putting on a chef hat and holding a spatula.

"Shouldn't you be an Olsen twin to say that?" Cyborg asked before looking out at the crowd. The line was over 30 people long. "Actually, BB, on second thought, can you get started on cutting those veggies?"

"Aye, aye, Captain!" The green teen saluted him and the most hectic day in Cyborg's short 22 years began. (Well, besides defeating Trigon or fighting Brother Blood or-well, you get the picture.) First-customers were the worst. All day, he dealt with hippies who either wanted certain vegetables on their burgers or were so high they ordered twenty burgers a person. Beastboy ran both the orders and made sure the ingredients were ready-but even his eight octopus arms just couldn't keep up with all the orders at once.

"How can I help you?" Cyborg asked another customer (there were so many they kind of blended together.)

"Hehe-yeah. Can I have a taco with barbacoa, cilantro, extra cheese and avocado?"

Seriously? "Umm, this is a veggie burger stand." Beastboy chimed in as a human for a few seconds before switching back into a chimpanzee, using two hands and a foot to clean and cut the ingredients with a frantic look in his eye. Cyborg swallowed, saying a quiet curse to himself before looking at the grungy guy ordering the food.

"Dude-I want a taco. What the hell, man?" The guy stomped away, saying how horrible the service was and walking over to the Thai food truck. Shaking his head, Cyborg continued to take orders and try not to buckle under the pressure.

All his brain could comprehend was "Sooooo busy" and "Cook burgers". Otherwise, he could hardly grasp what was happening around him. Some customers were so picky, he had to make specialty burgers until Beastboy suggested making a specific menu to put outside. Of course he thought about it after the lunch rush-if you could call the continual flood of people a rush. The constantl flow of people was excessive. One person even ordered strawberries, balsamic vinaigrette, chocolate chips, and gouda cheese for her burger. Who ordered chocolate and balsamic together? Grimacing, he made the burger. The woman exclaimed it was the best thing she ever ate and later brought her friends with her.

Well, at least that was one win for Cy.

Finally, the crowd began to thin and the streetlights began to blink on. The two heroes were unaware of anything until the last customer (can I have extra cheese on mine?) left and Cyborg finally closed the window. Finally, leaving the truck, Cyborg stretched then promptly flopped onto the sideway in exhaustion. Beastboy followed suit, throwing a weary arm over the robotic man. "And I thought crime-fighting was hard! Dude-it's almost midnight and I don't think I even used the bathroom all day."

"You better not have-you never left the truck!"

Laughing good-naturedly (how did he have the energy to laugh?) Beastboy handed him the bag of money. "Here, let's see how much money we made-maybe I can get that new Mega Monkey 6 I've been wanting!" Cyborg ripped the bag from his best friend's hands and began to count the money. Finally-some extra money for his baby! But the more he counted, the more his heart began to lurch.

"What's that look?" Beastboy asked, furrowing his brow. Cyborg merely shook his head. "What, no Mega Monkeys?"

Cyborg began to count out the money and place it in stacks in front of the green changeling. "This is for the ingredients." He plopped another one down. "The parking spot rental." Another. "Wear and tear from our Mad Max showdown." Another one. "The paint for the truck." Another stack. "Gas. Insurance. Kitchen supplies." He continued to smack the stacks down. "And our license for handling the food."

"Oh…" Beastboy muttered. He tapped a gloved finger on his chin. "So how much does that leave us with?" Cyborg's chest tightened-he didn't have the heart to tell him.

"We owe about $35 bucks."

"We OWE money?! UGH!"

Cyborg felt the same way-they worked so hard and this is all they got? He leaned against the back of the truck, groaning. "This is crazy. You think life will be so much easier when you get older but then you realize that kids are the ones who have it easy!" He chuckled to himself, nudging Beastboy in the ribs. "Who knew being a teenager was the easy part!"

Beastboy laughed, always good for cheering Cyborg up when he was down. "Take it from a teenager-it isn't."

Cyborg laughed again, shaking he head before a thought danced across his mind. He quickly sobered up, looking at the beach a little over half-a-mile away. "We should have just stuck to kicking bad-guy butts."

Silence permeated from the changeling-something that was pretty odd. He usually went with flying by the seat of his pants and regretting opening his mouth. But-count on Beastboy to be consistent. "Huh." He stated, pointed ears twitching. "I didn't realize you could be such a whiny, little punk."

"WHAT? Grass Stain, I swear-"

Suddenly, Beastboy was laughing, holding his sides and Cyborg realized what he was doing. Of course-who else knew him better? Cyborg joined in, realizing that Beastboy was trying to get him out of his funk. "Okay-you're right. I'm being a whiny, little punk."

Nodding his head, Beastboy leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Look, I get it. It sucks. But things like this take time and work, bro. Take me and Rae for example. We totally didn't like each other and fought when we first met but now she is my best friend-excluding present company of course."

Friendship- yeah right. Cyborg rolled his eyes before turning skeptically toward his best friend. "You sure it is just friendship?"

"What-uhh-what-no-you're way off, dude!"

"Just messing with ya, BB! And I hear what you're saying." Cyborg smirked, noting the red rising onto his green face.

Beastboy took a moment to gain his composure. As he simmered down, Cyborg punched him in the arm. "You're one wise dude, you know that?" Beastboy beamed at his best friend, hiding behind a yawn. "So-want to try this again next Saturday?"

Cyborg and Beastboy stared at one another with blank stares, as if playing chicken. Simultaneously, the two heroes crinkled their noses and exclaimed, "Hell, no!"

Lol-I don't know if you've ever been around anyone that works in the food business or in a food truck, but it is ridunkulous! (Donut pun intended!) Anyway, I thought a good bestie romp with Beastboy and Cyborg was in order since I've been pretty relationship heavy in the past few stories. I hope you enjoyed this silly, playful chapter. Thank you for reading, commenting, favoriting, and following my story. Until next time!