[A/N: Sorry for the long period of silence. I had a 13-day shift due to the other night shift person quitting at my small place of business (i.e., a gas station). So I was stuck doing a lot of work without much mental energy in the meantime. That schedule has ended so I should be doing my regular update speeds. Now that I'm at full mental strength, it's time to write! FULL POW~AA! ~~ Seth-kun]
~~
Blue sky to forever,
The green grass blows in the wind, dancing.
It would be a much better sight with you, with me.
If you hadn't met me, I'd be fine on my own, baby.
I never felt so lonely, then you came along.
So now what should I do? I'm strung out, addicted to you.
My body it aches, now that you're gone.
My supply fell through.
You gladly gave me everything you had and more.
You craved my happiness.
When you make me feel joy it made you smile,
But now I feel your stress.
Love was never meant to be such a crazy affair, no
And who has time for tears.
Never thought I'd sit around and cry for your love,
'till now.
~~
Inside the quiet, dismal halls of Raven's castle, in the equally dismal wasteland known as Raven's mind, a siren of joy rang from the darkness. "That was the best, day, EVER!!" Happy bounced like a spastic bunny around the dining room, showering the room with her cheerful song of celebration. "Best day ever! Best day ever! Best day ever, YAY!"
"How long is she going to do that?" Brave asked while rubbing the bridge of her nose.
Smart smiled at the display. "I think it's cute. I am glad that the outside world engendered such feeling in her heart."
"So she likes it," Gross said from the couch she'd claimed by sprawling across it like a lounging cat. "Wonderful. When do I get my turn!"
"We shall all have a chance to see the outside world with Raven," Smart said. "We must be patient."
"Screw patience! She's asleep, so we might as well sneak a peek." Gross started to fade from view, like a ghost retreating into the night.
"Y-you can't do that..." Timid whimpered from the floor beside Smart. "If you get in trouble, Raven... might not let us go."
"That won't happen, you wuss," Gross said with a confident smirk. "Because Raven wants this as much as we do. Otherwise, she can't get into little B-Boy's pants."
Smart scowled like a disgusted nun. "That is not what this is about. Raven wants friendship and is insecure in her inability to express emotions. This is not about vulgarity."
"Sez you! I'm in this for a little action. But I have to see if Beast Boy 'measures up' to my standards before I have my fun with him."
Smart winced in disgust. "You're.... revolting."
"What do you expect?" Brave said. "She's a negative spirit."
"Flattery will get you no~where," Gross countered, as she held up her middle finger and made kissing noises. Brave gave no response, simply because she didn't consider Gross worth arguing with. She was petty and got her kicks by pushing other people's buttons.
I wonder where Hatred and Pain are right now, Brave thought. She watched the fire crackle beneath the mantle, while Gross tried to tease Timid some more. They want to see the world as much as any of us. Brave shrugged. Oh well. The fewer negative spirits that Raven has to deal with, the better.
"Shall we decide who will join Raven at the conscious level when she wakes up?" Smart suggested. "We can draw straws right now."
"Really! Hell yeah, let's do it." Gross leapt to the forefront and crouched readily like a toad. "Or better yet, we can Ro-Sham-Bo to see who goes. Let's go, mouse!" Gross started throwing her hand as she counted to three. Timid inexplicably followed along, until Gross threw a 'paper' on the third count. Timid's hand was still balled up, so Gross smacked it. "Paper beats rock! Next!"
"We will be drawing straws," Smart decreed. "It's fair that way, and there's no need to use a different method."
Gross sighed loudly. "Fine. Let's do everything your way then."
Smart held up a balled fist with four straws rising from the top. "Draw. And we shall discover who sees the light of day next."
~~
Terra stared at the ceiling as she lay in her comfortable bed – the bed given to her by the Titans out of good faith. She knew in her heart that she didn't deserve this bed, but she couldn't help but enjoy the wonderful feeling it gave her. It was so soft, so giving, compared to the rocky ground she used to sleep on while running away from her past.
Terra held aloft The Love Song of Night and Day and opened its cover to the first few pages, where the writer Sean Yorick described how he came to create this expanded story-version of Jenny Scott's epic poem. This was supposed to be a present for Raven, but with all the strange goings-ons yesterday she never got a chance to actually give her the book. Raven seemed to 'know' about the book when they fought yesterday, so Terra didn't see a reason to give it to her now. Not that she wanted to give her a present at this point.
"You have it so easy," Terra muttered. "You can be weird and have frightening powers, and you don't have to run away from your friends. Then you get even weirder, and people love you even more." Terra slammed the book shut and tossed it across the room. It slammed against the wall and closed as it hit the ground. "I hate you!"
Terra rolled over and gripped her pillow, angrily mashing her face into it. Why did Raven have it so easy? Why couldn't she have it that easy!? She didn't want to play superhero or fight crime. She wanted to go back home! She wanted her family back! She wanted her heart to just disappear so that she wouldn't feel all these conflicting emotions of hatred and love for the people who took her in, and for the girl she looked up to!
The world rumbled around her with an earthen tremor. Terra's eyes flickered with golden light as her anger got the better of her, but only for a few moments. Terra clutched her pillow and took deep breaths to calm her nerves. She couldn't let this bother her. She had more important things to do than worry about Raven and Beast Boy. She had a mission!
The communicator in the wall beeped across the room by the sliding door. Starfire's voice flowed from the device melodically. "Terra? You wished for me to call you if Beast Boy and Raven were doing something together, correct?"
Screw the mission! Important things first!
Terra zipped across the room and leaned close to the speaker. "What're they doing!? Where are they going?"
"They are eating breakfast with the rest of us. Come join us!" Terra promptly faceplanted into the ground.
"That's not what I meant! I meant it they were alone together!"
"Oh... my apologies then," Starfire said. "But you should join us. We are having the cold cereal with the Lucky Charms and special prizes inside! It is quite exciting!"
Terra chuckled. "Alright, I'll be right there." She rushed over to her dresser to pull out a fresh uniform and donned it quickly. She finished by putting on her lucky goggles. Terra took a moment to check herself out in her full body mirror, making sure that she looked good in all the right places.
Terra licked the tip of her finger and touched her butt, making a hissing sound like steam. "Hot!" She then left the room through the sliding door. The room's lights turned off automatically, showcasing yet another feature of the tower.
Terra reached the living room in no time. "Morning everyone!" The kids shouted back a greeting as the final Titan took the remaining empty seat. She watched the other Titans eagerly chomp into their cold breakfast and discuss the morning events in their usual manner. Starfire giddily showed Robin the prize she'd found in one of the cereal boxes. Beast Boy and Cyborg were in a heated discussion of a game between their favorite teams. And Raven was quietly sipping some tea, her eyes downcast. As luck would have it, Terra was seated right next to her. Cyborg was on Raven's opposite side, followed by Beast Boy, Starfire, and Robin.
"Y'hungry, rock n' roller?" Cyborg asked, holding up a half-empty box of Frosted Sugar Fritos.
"No thanks," Terra said. "Pass me a cup though, would ya?" Cyborg reached for the counter top behind him and tossed a plastic cup over his head, which Terra deftly caught before it could go flying across the room. Terra grabbed the milk jug from the center of the table and poured a glass for herself, then leaned back in her chair comfortably. She watched the table buzz with conversation. But mostly she watched Raven and tried to pick out what kind of emotions and mannerisms she would have today, and whether or not they were a threat.
Raven sipped her tea and gently licked her lips as she put the glass down. She glanced up at the table, then reached out to grab a cracker from a little tray set beside the butter and shakers. She bit into it gently and resumed looking down. She didn't say a word, nor did she try to make her presence known in any spectacular way. She was the complete opposite of the Raven from yesterday. She was quiet and unobtrusive as opposed to boisterous and irritating.
Raven glanced up in Terra's direction, and their eyes met for a second. Terra was about to say something, but Raven immediately looked down and started blushing furiously, as if that moment of interaction had been the most intense social interaction she'd ever done. Terra stared blankly at her, mouth agape from her prior attempt to speak.
"Next time we're having a cooked breakfast," Robin decided. "None of this cold cereal junk."
"Oh, but the warm breakfast does not have a prize inside!" Starfire said sadly.
"I'll be sure to put a prize in your waffle," Cyborg said as he reclined. The teen looked down as he felt a gentle tap on his arm. Raven motioned to him, and he leaned down so that his ear was level with her mouth. She whispered something into his ear, and Cyborg sat up straight with an incredulous stare. Raven looked up to him, a look of hope in her eyes. "Well... sure. I can make one for you too if you want."
Raven smiled gently, her cheeks glowing. The rest of the table looked at her, jaws dropped all the way to the floor. She promptly lowered her blushing face and focused on her teacup intently.
Too weird, Terra thought. She's totally different. She's acting like a shy little girl! Who the hell is she? Watching this display made Terra realize that Raven really was on the level with this whole emotion experimenting thing – she wasn't possessed. No demonic entity or freaky alien would act like this. But it was still scary to see Raven acting so different. And it was even scarier to see Beast Boy's reaction to it. Terra also realized that if Raven was in 'shy little girl' mode today, she would be easier to manipulate... and intimidate.
"Umm..." Beast Boy said. He was finally able to tear his eyes away from Raven with great effort. "Training is in an hour, right?"
"Yeah," Robin replied, shaking his head to undo his jaw-drop. "I'm going to update the database after that, so my free time is shot."
"I would only be in the way during a data-face update," Starfire said seriously (even though it still amused the others). "So perhaps I will go downtown to the mall of shopping and see a cinema later!"
"That sounds awesome!" Terra agreed.
"I'm gonna work on the Sub and tune up my car," Cyborg said. It was his usual routine, so nobody was surprised. "What about you, B.B?"
"I was going to go out with Star and Terra," Beast Boy snorted, as if it were the obvious course of action.
"Nah-ah!" Terra said, waving a finger and pushing his nose with it. "Not this time, love. This time it's going to be just us girls." Terra reached over and grabbed Raven, who 'meeped' fearfully at the sudden contact. "We girls have a lot to talk about and a lot of stores to crash."
"But I want to go shopping too!" Beast Boy whined. "Especially if you girls are going!"
"It's a Girl's Only party! Let us have some time by ourselves today." Terra leaned on the table and winked. "I promise I'll make it worth your while later on."
Beast Boy frowned. "You think I can be bought that way?"
"Yep."
"... So what." Beast Boy crossed his arms and made a show of pouting. "Well, fine. Go and have your girl-time. See if I care."
Terra grinned and whirled around the table to his side, clutching the green goblin in a hug. "Tha~nk you, B.B." She kissed him on the cheek and looked across the table to make sure Raven was watching. Beast Boy's head spun and spurted steam like a tea kettle. Raven sadly looked at the scene, then returned to staring down at her teacup to avoid eye contact.
Starfire made a thumbs-up sign. "Alright! Starfire and Raven and Terra are going out! We shall goobler like no females have gooblervorked before!" Terra had no idea what the alien said, but she gave a thumbs-up and shouted "Hoo-ah!" in agreement.
"I guess we have a schedule, then," Robin said. "But first we have training to do. Titans, let's go!" With that, every teenager raced for the field outside. Chairs clattered around and utensils rattled on the table as shock waves filled the room from all the running. The noise quickly died down as doors slammed and everyone left. Everyone except Beast Boy (who had no plan) and Raven (who had no volition).
Beast Boy stood up and started gathering dirty bowls together. "I guess it's my turn to do the dishes. And I guess I'll get to break in that new comedy CD I got yesterday."
Raven slowly looked up. Beast Boy frowned back at the sad young woman, but quickly turned away when he caught himself staring. He rapidly gathered up the bowls and their matching utensils before dumping them in the sink and starting the faucet for a dish-washing session.
"M-maybe I could..." Raven said meekly, her voice barely above a whisper. The rest of her sentence murmured into nothingness.
"Huh?" Beast Boy said, looking over his shoulder. Raven was still seated in her chair, head bowed. She looked so sad, it was painful to watch.
"I could... help," she managed to say, not daring to look up.
Raven never offered to help do the dishes before. Once again, Beast Boy wondered how much of this Raven was the "real" her, and how much of it was just those other "hers" wandering around in her head like ghosts.
"No, that's okay," he replied gently. Raven looked up and saw him smiling softly. It was such a warm expression, that Raven couldn't bring herself to turn away, even though every fiber of her body wanted to shy away again.
"I... don't know if I should go with... them," Raven said, referring to Starfire and Terra's plans for the day.
"Don't worry, you'll have fun," Beast Boy said. "Shopping's a great way to relax. And the girls won't let anything hurt you."
Raven stood up and slowly wandered towards one of the hangar stairs that led to a sky access point. Before leaving, she turned around and watched Beast Boy work on the dishes by himself. She whispered a few words of thanks, then gently closed the door behind her.
Beast Boy smiled to himself. It was the little moments of gentility in life that really made it worth living – even for the action-packed, always exciting life of a superhero. Beast Boy dipped into soapy water and went to work.
~~
"Woo-HOO!" Terra cheered as she surfed through the sky on a rock lifted from the roof of the Super Mall in the northern part of the city. Starfire followed at matching speed, and the two swirled over and under each other in a spectacular air show as they flew towards the city. It was such a beautiful night that it was hard not to enjoy flying through the air. And after a long day of window shopping, the girls were itching to do something with their money and their time.
Raven followed at the same speed but with none of the aerial acrobatics the others were performing. She watched them jealously and wished that she could express herself so wildly and freely (like her sister Happy could). But she figured that even if she could, she'd prefer a safer venue than that of aerial surfing and tumbling.
"Raven, do not be so glum!" Starfire cheered, tackling the girl in a midair hug and glomping the life out of her. "We shall find another mall to shop the windows!"
"Not now! The sun went down a little bit ago, so it's movie time!" Terra shouted back.
"Joyful news! We shall see a movie then!" Raven remained quiet, but her eyes widened slightly at the prospect.
"Yo Raven! Star!" Terra yelled, her hair flowing in the wind created by her high speed flight. "I'll race you to the broadcast tower. Winner decides what movie we watch!"
"Oh goodie! A race!" Starfire said. She let go of Raven and zoomed ahead to line up with Terra. Raven watched them nervously. She was afraid that something bad would happen even though the girls had raced like this many times before – especially Raven and Terra, since they were competitive in just about everything and not just Beast Boy's affections.
"Ready... steady... GO!" Terra shouted. Her rock plowed through the air at high speed with her mental insistence. Starfire followed with her own natural powers and flew as fast as she could manage within a gravitized atmosphere. Raven reluctantly sped up so that she didn't lose them, but she lacked the drive to win that the other two had. She was quickly outpaced.
Terra and Starfire were neck-in-neck. Starfire gritted her teeth and released a burst of physical energy as a green aura around her body, which propelled her like a rocket through the air even faster than before. Terra smirked and unleashed more of her power. Her eyes shined gold through her goggles and catapulted her across the sky, enabling her to pass the tamaranean girl in the home stretch. Terra screeched to a halt as she shot past the JUMP broadcast tower like a bullet. Starfire generated an inverted aura burst to slam on the brakes (so to speak) and end her movement instantly. She snapped her fingers and said a word in her native language, which probably equated to 'Darn!' Both girls caught their breath and laughed with each other at having such a good race.
Raven eventually caught up with them. Her pace was so slow that she wasn't out of breath at all. In fact, the other two girls had caught their breath by the time Raven hovered beside them.
"So the turtle finally finishes the race," Terra said, smiling at her own pun. "Glad you could join us, 'speedy.'"
"I didn't want to go too fast," Raven said in a subdued manner. "I'm sorry."
"Do not apologize Raven," Starfire answered, cheerful as ever. "There is no fault here."
"But since I won, I get to pick the movie!" Terra cheered. "And the movie's gonna be THAT one!" The girl pointed across the sky towards a giant advertisement in the city, and the other girls looked in that direction. It was a brightly-lit, somewhat cheesy advertisement for "Wicked Scary 2: I Know How Wicked You Were Last Night."
Raven squeaked fearfully and clutched her robe like a blanket. Terra smiled at her reaction.
"I thought that a movie such as 'the Wicked Scary' is appropriate only at home," Starfire recalled. "Would it not be less scary with all those people in the theater with you?"
"In the theater, it'll be pitch black except for the movie itself and everybody will be scared witless. It'll be just like watching it at home... heh heh heh." She watched Raven pull her hood over her head and curl inside her robe. She looked like a bodiless manifestation of Death, albeit a not-so-scary one.
Starfire remembered another little fact. "Oh, but Raven does not like the Wicked Scary. I think we should watch something else. How about the new X-Men movie with Johnny Depp as Gambit!"
"What's the matter Raven?" Terra taunted. "Afraid of some movie? I figured that the 'queen of darkness' here wasn't afraid of anything. Now the truth comes out!"
It was bad enough that the "real" Raven was afraid of scary movies. But with Timid in control of her consciousness, that fear bordered on a phobia. The mere thought of watching a horror movie was giving her the chills and making her shake. Yet a part of Timid's personality gave her a need to be "liked" by everyone around her. She couldn't chicken out of this. If she didn't go to watch this movie with the girls, they would hate her. And she couldn't allow that to happen.
Raven slowly turned around and peeked from her shadowy hood. "I... I guess it's okay."
"Are you sure you will be alright, Raven?" Starfire asked. She remembered vividly what happened the last time Raven's fears went out of control. She turned the entire tower into a nightmare and didn't even know it!
"I-it's okay," she replied shakily.
"Well, good!" Terra said, happy that Raven was playing into her hands so easily. Once they got to the theater, she'd give her the scare of her life and make her look like a total fool. She'd be so embarrassed and ashamed that she wouldn't even be able to show her face to the Titans – let alone Beast Boy.
"The cinema on the south end is the best, so let's head there!" Terra said. She zipped in that direction, and Starfire followed quickly. Raven reluctantly continued flying, although every part of her wanted to fly in the opposite direction.
They landed outside the South District Theater a few minutes later. Terra "parked" her rock in an out-of-the-way section of the lot next to a bunch of inline skaters having fun with a set of handicap access rails. They cheered on the titans and whooped insistently (particularly when Starfire landed). Terra gave them some witty taunts that left them laughing. Raven stayed close to Starfire like a lost child and clung to her arm for moral support. The girls made their way to the long theater line, which prompted a round of applause and cheers from the gathered civilians. The Teen Titans were just like celebrities in that they got a lot of attention no matter where they went, and often got special favors to boot. This was evidenced by them getting to bypass the line entirely and enter the theater with free tickets. And nobody complained about it.
"Free tickets!" Terra cheered as they went into the lobby and bought all their foodstuffs with cartoonish speed and flamboyance. Starfire and Terra grabbed mountains of candy (some about as healthy as a handful of dirt) and paid for it before hefting it onto their shoulders. "Sometimes it pays to be a superhero." Terra started to buckle under the weight of her food stash, then looked at Raven and her empty hands. "A little help here?"
Raven waved a hand, and all the candy started to float thanks to her magical touch. Starfire and Terra, now able to use their shoulders again, were thankful in their own way.
The girls used their tickets and made their way to the twenty-seventh theater – one of six that was showing Wicked Scary 2. It was packed with movie-goers both young and old, all of them anxiously awaiting the start of the film. The Titans snuck into one of the middle rows and plopped down with their snack food in tow. Terra sat in the aisle seat, and Starfire sat two seats into the row. Raven sat in the middle at Terra's command.
"This is going to be so scary!" Terra said hauntingly. Raven shied away and tried to hide inside her robe. The lights in the theater dimmed to nothing, and the screen lit up with the opening previews. "It's starting!" Terra joined the other youngsters in the audience in cheering for the arrival of the film. Raven wondered if coming here was a good idea. Beast Boy said she would have fun with the girls, but she didn't feel like she was having fun.
The movie started with a stereotypical scene of a girl in a shower, unaware of the evil creature stalking her outside. The audience watched with baited breath as the monster slowly went down the hall, entered her bedroom, and approached the bathroom where the innocent victim was blissfully unaware of her fate. Raven watched with great effort, trying her best not to look like a 'chicken'. Starfire's eyes were wide with suspense, while Terra's relaxed look made it seem like she'd seen this a million times before. She seemed more intent on making sure Raven was watching the movie.
When the monster finally struck, Starfire jumped in her seat and screamed like most of the other audience members. Raven actually screamed as well, which her normal self had never done even when she was afraid. She covered her eyes with the edge of her cape and waited for the evil music to end. Terra smirked at Raven's reaction – she was totally weak in this form. Now, for the final phase of her plan. During the scary scene, Terra slipped into the aisle and dashed to the end until she was out of sight. Raven clutched Starfire's arm and watched the movie from her shoulder, so she never noticed that Terra wasn't next to her anymore.
The next scene included some typical horror drama with the characters acting suspiciously and lustily at the same time. One of the characters had a heated argument with another, and it turned out that the angry character could control the evil monster and coax it to kill people. So after the argument, the angry character sent the monster after the person he'd argued with – a jock who was too cool to hang out with geeks like the angry guy. The jock was with his girlfriend having obligatory sex, and the creature stalked towards their room with shots intermixed of the two throwing each other's clothes around. The music built the tension, and once again the audience waited with baited breath to see what would happen. The question wasn't really if they would die or not – that was a given. The question was how gory and viciously they would die, and how many bloodcurdling screams would be made before they finally croaked.
"Close your eyes if you are a-frighted," Starfire suggested to the girl clutching at her arm. Raven continued to watch nonetheless. She didn't want to seem like a scaredy-cat in front of her friends. Only then did she wonder where Terra went – her seat was empty, and she couldn't feel her presence with the audience's fears overwhelming her senses.
"Wh-where is Terra?" she whispered to Starfire. The scene was about to reach its climax. Both girls looked at each other, then at the empty seat. At that exact moment, the 'Wicked Scary' monster popped up right by their row, fangs drooling and tentacles flailing wildly as the movie's monster finally struck. Starfire and Raven screamed so loud that the people next to them nearly fainted from shock. Starfire keeled over, while Raven screamed her way into a magic portal of shadows and fled for her life.
The cardboard cut-out of the monster fell to the side as Terra laughed her head off. "Yes! Yes-yes-yes! PER-fect timing!" The annoyed movie-goers nearby told her to be quiet and shushed her, so Terra tried to calm herself with little success. She crawled into her seat and laughed into her gloved hands at her perfectly executed prank.
Starfire popped up from the floor. Her hair was as frizzy as the hair of a victim of an electric socket, and she was covered in old jujubes and popcorn kernels. She glared at Terra and floated into the girl's face. She was decidedly angry, but polite enough to keep her voice down. "That was not funny, Terra!"
"Are you kidding?" Terra whispered back, still stuck in a laughing fit. "It was hi-LAR-ious! I think I made ol' Grumpy wet her pants!"
Starfire poked Terra's chest angrily, making the girl cringe in pain. Starfire's pokes were like rail spikes. "You knew that Raven did not like being scared. You should not have done such a mean thing!" Starfire flew out of the theater, keeping low so as not to get in the way of the people in the upper row. Terra watched her leave, then harrumphed at the alien's back.
"Maybe now she'll listen to me and stop messing with this emotion crap," Terra said. "Beast Boy likes me, and I'm not going to let her 'woe-is-me' routine get in the way of my biggest source of happiness."
Terra frowned at the movie screen, and at the empty chairs beside her. "...Sheesh. I wouldn't have done it if I knew I'd be alone afterwords." More than anything else, being alone made Terra feel sad and regretful. She hadn't counted on this part of the plan.
"...Crap," she muttered. Terra left her seat and ran towards the theater exit and hoped that Starfire hadn't blown up her ride home out of anger.
~~
Raven's teleportation instantly brought her to her bedroom. The normal range of her shadow-hopping was very limited, but Raven's room was so ingrained with her magical essence that she could appear there no matter where in the city she was. Raven plopped onto the bed instantly and dug her way into her bed covers, still in mid-scream from the sudden surprise at the theater. Raven cowered beneath the covers and gasped for breath. Her mind was still buzzing from the sight of the horrible monster right next to her. It reminded her too much of home – of her father and the nightmares he sent to torment her.
Raven was a teenager – an adult in all ways save for experience and age. But after such a frightening experience, there was only one course of action that came to her. Raven started to cry, both in self-pity and in fear. Like a child that just had a vivid nightmare, Raven curled up beneath her covers, wept into her arms, and hoped that the bad monsters (both real and imagined) would stay away from her.
"Somebody help me," she whimpered into the darkness. She was too deathly afraid to look outside of the covers into her cold, dark room. "Somebody please help me." Raven's plea for help sounded pathetic but honest. She wanted somebody to be there – somebody who could just make all the bad things go away. Raven's whispers weren't loud enough to be heard outside, even if someone was actually standing there. She was all alone in her hall of the tower's residential area.
"Somebody... please..." Raven's crying continued unabated. The room seemed to moan with her fear, and she continued to tremble beneath her blanket. Was her mind playing tricks on her? She didn't have the clarity of sense to find out. All she could think about was how scared she was, and how alone she felt.
Suddenly, the door swished open and someone stomped in as if they were running just moments before. "Raven!?"
"Beast Boy?" she gasped. Raven peered from the edge of her covers towards the front door, where the dim light of the hall lamps outside shone through and shadowed the person standing there. But even in the dim light, Beast Boy's small stature and insipid hair style were recognizable. He was panting for breath.
"I heard you calling," Beast Boy said as he switched on the light with a push of a button. "I didn't know you could talk to people through their minds. All I know is that you sounded like you were in trouble."
Raven slowly sat up, the blanket still covering her like a protective shield. Her face was barely visible from beneath the edge of the bed covering and her own disheveled hair. She was wide-eyed like a deer caught in headlights. "You... heard me?"
"Yeah." Beast Boy walked into the room, and the door closed behind him automatically. "I was surprised when the communicator said you were here. I thought you were with Terra and Star?"
Raven's breathing slowed as she started to calm down. Fear wasn't as powerful when you were with friends – even one friend. "I was. B-but..."
"Did something happen?" Beast Boy asked. Raven answered with silence. He frowned disappointedly. "Did you and Terra have problems again?"
Raven knew it was Terra's idea that they see a scary movie. But she didn't know where the monster came from. Raven probably scared herself with her powers like she'd done last time. So it wasn't Terra's fault that she'd been so frightened by the movie. Besides, she didn't want Beast Boy to get mad at her. Terra would know that Raven had said something about her. And Terra wouldn't like her anymore after that.
"N-no," she managed to say. "I just... got really scared." Raven bowed her head to show the shame she felt for revealing her moment of weakness. "I'm... a chicken."
Beast Boy was still amazed by the fact that Raven could act like such a different person depending on which "emotion" she was feeling that day. This side of Raven was the most surprising of all. When he met the timid side of Raven with that meditation mirror, she'd been so ashamed of all the things Raven had said about him and Cyborg over the prior months. She was so apologetic and so hungry for compassion and forgiveness. It was so different from the normal Raven that they seemed like two different people. And yet... this really was Raven, or at least a part of her that had been suppressed for years.
"I don't think you're a chicken," Beast Boy said. He walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. Raven pulled back, using the blanket as a shawl to cover her face and hide her weakness. Beast Boy smiled at her and managed to catch Raven's eyes with his own. "There's no way you're a chicken."
Raven slowly lowered her blanket and revealed more of her face. "But... I..."
"You don't cluck or have feathers, like this," Beast Boy said. He instantly changed into a green-feathered piece of poultry and clucked loudly and comically. He followed up with a little chicken-dance before shifting back into his normal form, feathers falling around him. "You don't look like that, do you?" he teased.
Despite herself, Raven giggled gently. The sound of the giggle actually surprised her. She – Timid – never giggled before. She felt her throat and opened her mouth slowly, trying to remember how she'd done it. She gawked at Beast Boy. "I..."
"Heh heh. Don't stop now. I tried for months and months to get you to do that."
Raven remembered the countless times he'd tried to make her "normal" self laugh at one of his jokes or one of his pranks. Not once in that time did she laugh. She didn't even crack a smile. After a while, Beast Boy's attempts to make her laugh grew fewer and fewer. By the time Terra arrived out of the desert and later joined the team, it seemed like he didn't joke around her at all anymore.
The gentle mystic looked up. "Why... did you stop?" she asked submissively.
Beast Boy frowned regretfully. "...You never laughed. My jokes irritated you, but I didn't want you to hate me for annoying you all the time. So I stopped. I guess, I figured it would be better that way."
"...You tell Terra jokes now. And she laughs and tells jokes back. That is why... you like her so much."
"There's more to it than that." Beast Boy rubbed his neck nervously. Talking about this with Raven seemed like a bad idea. But he didn't want to leave her in this dejected state. And talking seemed to be the best way to keep her spirits up, if only for the moment. "I like her for lots of reasons."
"...Oh." Raven felt her chest tighten. This feeling... it was apprehension. It was like her heart was slowly freezing. Slowly dying.
"Hey." Beast Boy bent down to catch her downcast eyes again. "You going to be alright?"
Raven curled up in her blanket. "I... guess so." She trembled at the thought of being alone again in this room. It was so dark and uninviting at night. And she still felt the lingering fear from before, clawing at her imagination and conjuring up illusions of bogey men at the corners of her room.
Beast Boy clicked his communicator and checked to see if Terra or Starfire were in the tower yet. There was no sign of them, so he clicked it off again. "How about I stay with you until the girls get back. They're probably worried about you."
"...They will not be long," Raven quietly noted. "They are fast."
Beast Boy put a hand on Raven's head. She looked up, surprised by the gentle gesture.
"Then I'll stay until then." Beast Boy shapechanged into a bloodhound and pawed his way across Raven's bed before plopping down like a normal dog would. The green dog glanced up at Raven, who seemed completely mesmerized by the green dog next to her.
Raven gently leaned down and wrapped an arm around the dog as if it were a big doll. She nuzzled against it, just like a child would, and clutched the creature for warmth and support. Her face was red from the thought of who this was she was holding in her arms. But the fact that he was a dog made it seem comical and comforting at the same time. She could never hold Beast Boy like this in his human form without causing a stir with the other Titans. But even in this form, Raven felt the warmth of his spirit coursing through her and melting the frost that formed around her apprehensive heart.
"Thank you... Beast... Boy..." Raven's words trailed off as her mind faded into darkness, and sleep overtook her. The excitement and fear had drained her more than she knew, and the comfort of her bed and the body next to her were enough to push her the rest of the way into dreamland. Beast Boy was stuck in her embrace. Not that he minded.
In the silence of the tender moment, tendrils of red light snaked from Raven's hand and moved with a will of their own. The content young man didn't notice a thing with his eyes or ears or nose – he was too busy enjoying Raven's warm body and the feel of her skin against his fur. The tendrils slithered from Raven's hand, each tendril carrying the taint of darkness within it, and entered the unsuspecting Titan without pain or feeling. Soon the tendrils disappeared completely, leaving both teens unaware of what just happened. A seed of evil had been planted.
It was the beginning of the end. The end of lives, the end of peace... and the end of Raven's happiness.