The teen decided he didn't like the city.
It was only supposed to be a day trip, just get through the city and keep going, maybe find something to eat while he was there. But this wasn't worth it.
He gripped his arms close to his chest, awkwardly shouldering people he passed by and pretending he didn't feel their glare burn into his back. Just ignore them and they'll go away. 'Better than confronting them...'
The teen yelped as he suddenly bumped into someone, staggering backward and staring wide-eyed at the man in the dress suit glaring at him, "Watch it, kid!" He snarled, shoving the teen away as he carried on his way. The teen yelped again as he felt his back hit the wall, and people stared at him, some in annoyance, others in pity, some in confusion in wonder as their eyes traced over his outfit.
It took far too long for him to realize how much he stood out. People stared at him as he passed them, wide-eyed stares ogling the staff stuck in the hilt on his back or the feathers that adorned his hair. He griped his cape and tried to wrap it around himself, hoping that it would somehow make him invisible to the strangers around him, and rushed away from the foreign stares of strangers.
People still stared.
The teen bit back his whimpers as he felt their stares burn into his back. 'Why won't they just go away?!' He... he hated this. He wouldn't pass by another city. Even if the detour would take far longer than passing through, he couldn't handle it.
The stares, the noises, the commotion, the yelling, the screaming, the cars, the atmosphere-
'Oh no.'
The teen stumbled slightly, falling against the building on his right as he felt his lungs tighten. Not now, please...
Soon the tightness in his chest only increased and he struggled to hold back his gasps. He didn't want people to stare. People always stared. He couldn't have this. Please, why couldn't they just go away?
He wasn't sure if he was asking that of his attack or the people causing it.
Standing up stiffly, he whipped his head around looking for someplace more private to right out of the attack, heart-clenching as he saw an alleyway. It looked dirty and dark, a very uncomfortable place to be. Plus, wasn't there something about alleyways being unsafe? People stared at him, some even reaching out to ask if he was okay.
At that moment, safety didn't matter to him. He stood up and sprinted across the street, wincing as he heard ear-piercing honks and stumbling in the dark alley. People yelled at him, but he ignored them. He always did.
He stumbled backward into the alley, holding his arms as he breathlessly collapsed against the wall, trying to rein in his panic.
'This was a mistake. Why did I go here? I should've known...'
'I can't handle this.'
'I can't.'
'Why... why can't this all be easier.'
'I don't know where he's going. I didn't need to pass through here...'
'So why...'
"Hey."
Eli didn't answer. They would go away.
"Kid."
'Please, just lea-'
The teen gasped as he suddenly felt a hand grip his throat and he was shoved against the wall, his feet just grazing the ground.
In front of him were several men, all glaring at him.
The man grinned wide, "Let's chat, ya freak."
"Wh-what are you-" the teen yelped as he was suddenly thrown to the ground and looked up at the three men.
"The hell's wrong with ya, kid," the man sneering, "dressed like some kind of freak, acting like that in public. You got a problem?" The teen frowned.
"N-no, I don't-" he cried out as hands gripped his shirt, hoisting him and then gritted his teeth as he was slammed back against the wall.
"What's with those feathers?" One of them scoffed, flicking a feather attached to his hair, "You some kinda' freak?" The teen opened his mouth in shock.
"What're you-?!" The man holding him up, slammed him into the wall again, causing the back of his head to snap against the wall, making a dull ache resonate.
"Let's give this freak a welcome to Jump City, shall we?"
Beast Boy always liked to relax.
Maybe he shouldn't, I mean, crime never relaxes, or something like that, but nothing was happening so he didn't really bother.
Today wasn't much. The day started off strong, the Teen Titans needed to stop a robbery, but really, nothing much was happening.
Starfire and Raven were at the mall, the latter more for the bookstore while the former had all but dragged Raven out. Cyborg was in the workshop that day and was not really in any mood for help, at least from what he said before kicking Beast Boy out. And Robin claimed he had work to do, then promptly kicked Beast Boy out when he tried to help (or maybe he knocked over a cabinet. But it was an accident!) So today was the day to kick back and relax because... well, what else was there to do?
Beast Boy sighed in content, relaxing back into the lounge chair on the roof, a drink on a stand next to him. This is really what he needed. Clear skies, the birds chirping, the hustle and bustle of the city. Beast Boy sighed in content.
Nothing but bliss and serenity-
"S-STOP!"
Aw, great. Time for action.
Sure, it was annoying to be interrupted, but for Beast Boy, nothing beat the rush of saving the day. Beast Boy wasted no time transforming in an Eagle and soaring up in the air to catch sight of the citizen in peril. It didn't take long for him to single in on a group of men aggravating what looked like a young teen. Go figure. Whatever it was, Beast Boy was putting a stop to it. The teenager below was struggling in the ring leader's grip, yelling out and pleading to be let go as the aggravators laughed, taunting their victim in their mirth.
Well, no time to waste.
In an instant, Beast Boy had flown to the group and transformed into a Tiger to slam the leader down to the ground, causing the teen to be dropped to the ground. Snarling, Beast Boy batted the man away from the kid, being as gentle as he could in his form. The man started to glare at the interruption before his eyes went wide in fear as he recognized the trademark green Tiger. Meanwhile, the teen behind Beast Boy stared in the amazement at the scene before him.
"Ah! you're-!" The man cried out in alarm, scrambling backward into his friends, "We-we weren't doin' nothin'! Just... messing around, you know how it is!?" Beast Boy snarled, causing the man to cry out and run out of the alley, his friends following close behind.
"We're sorry! We won't bother him again!"
The three scrambled out of the alley and Beast Boy snorted as he transformed back crying out at them, "Yeah! You better run!" He grinned in triumph, putting his hands on his hips before sighing in annoyance, "Yeesh, could've at least made that a little interesting..."
"You- you just-! How?!"
"Oh, hey!" Beast boy grinned as he turned around and looked at the teen, "You alright, dude?"
The teen blinked, "I-I- yes! But how did you do that?" Beast Boy smiled mischievously.
"What? Never seen a dude transform into a green tiger around here? Just your average Friday around here!"
The teen looked at his feet, flabbergasted, "That's... normal?" Beast Boy shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well, for me at least." He looked over the teen and took notice of his getup.
"Nice outfit," he whistled, giving the teen finger guns, "What, you goin' to a fair or something?" The teen was wearing what looked best like an outfit someone from the medieval times would wear, a cape covering his shoulder and back, which was held together with a pin across his chest. In his hair were four feathers, which seemed to be holding his brown hair up in a short ponytail. To finish it off was a staff that was attached to a satchel across his back. Really, it did look odd, but Beast Boy really wasn't one to judge. Nor was he in a position to judge. Come to think of it, when was the last time he washed his costume?
"Er- th-thanks. I-I guess." The teen looked awkwardly away, "It's... normal. Where I'm from."
"Really? Where are you from?" Silence.
Well.
This is awkward.
"Uh, you need an escort to wherever you're going, or-?" Before Beast Boy could finish, the teen had shot up to his feet.
"No!" The teen flinched, for... some reason. Beast Boy was the one being yelled at here. "Uh- Er- I mean-! I-!"
"Dude, relax." Beast Boy held up his hands, "I just wanna make sure you're cool."
"I-" The teen shut his mouth, seemingly trying to avoid speaking anymore. He simply nodded and stood up.
"Thank you." He said quietly, moving toward the entrance of the alley.
"H-hey!" Beast Boy ran up to the kid, stopping him from moving forward. Beast Boy couldn't help but notice how much the teen tensed. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden?
"What did those guys want anyway? Did they get anything from you? Like, money, or-"
"They just... didn't l-like me." The teen mumbled, backing away from Beast Boy. "Though I was weird..." Beast Boy, not noticing the boy's discomfort, just snorted.
"Hah! Seems like I gave those jerks what they deserved then! Up top!" Beast Boy held up his hand in a gesture of a high five. What happened next wasn't what he expected. Instead of returning the gesture, the boy yelped and fell backward, knocking over a couple of trashcans as he fell to the ground.
"Oh! Jeez- dude, are you okay?!" Beast Boy once again held out his hand for the boy, who once again yelped in panic and crawled backward. Beast Boy, getting the message, snapped his hand back, "S-sorry, dude!"
"Ah! N-no, it's not your- uh," the teen stood up, awkwardly brushing trash off himself, "I-I overreacted.. it wasn't..." the teen trailed off as he looked at Beast Boy's face. Beast Boy resized that hurt was showing on his face and quickly shook it off, not wanting to upset the other teen any further.
"Don't worry about it, dude!" Beast Boy gave him a thumbs-up, making sure to be sure to keep it close to his body and avoid setting off the nervous teen any more, "It was my fault anyway, I shouldn't have spooked you like that." The teen quietly looked at him, then to the side.
"R-right. Sorry."
"C-c' mon dude!" Beast Boy awkwardly smiled, gesturing to the teen, "You gotta stop apologizing! I already say it wasn't your fault..." The teen winced and gripped his arm tightly.
Beast Boy offered another awkward smile, "Anyways if you wanna be on your way, go ahead. I'm sure you already know, but name's Beast Boy! If you, heh, want an autograph, don't be afraid to ask." The teen blinked in response.
"Uh- okay?"
"... haven't you heard of me?" The teen offered a blank look, "... Teen Titans ring a bell?" The teen shook his head.
Beast Boy blinked. "Huh. Guess you really aren't from around here, huh? Or... anywhere near here..." The teen frowned and looked even more nervous.
"Sh-should I have heard of you? I... where I'm from we don't get much news, but..."
"Eh, don't worry about it, dude." Beast Boy shrugged. The teen seemed bothered but let it go.
"W-well, thank you, B-Beast Boy, but I should go now." The teen awkwardly said as he began to sidestep Beast Boy, "s-sorry..." Beast Boy frowned.
"You apologize too much, uh... hey!" The boy paused just at the entrance, "What's your name, dude?" The teen tensed but offered a weak smile.
"Eli." He simply said before turning around and disappearing around the corner. Beast Boy sighed as he left.
"Weird dude."
AN: wow, did I really just write an OC insert fic?
heck yeah! this is fun!
I've always been a fan of reading OC inserts and decided, heck it, imma do it. So meet my dumb son, Eli
To be honest, I'm not the best with writing characters that aren't my own, but I'm gonna try my best to do the Teen Titans justice! Hope y'all enjoyed :D
And *cough cough* if you wanna... like leave a review or smth, that'd be really cool