SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE!!! I was pretty hesitant on this one, I'll have to admit...cuz there were so many ways I could go; I hope this way was the right choice, and entertains the crap outta you guys! :D
"I'm still getting his drool off my face. I don't need him anywhere near my brain." – Raven, Every Dog Has His Day
To all of my reviewers: Thank you all so much for your advice and kind $$ words! LOLZ!!! I love you all so much! I just wanna give you each GREAT BIG HUGS!!!
To Marshmello da Strawberry Cow: Thanks for catching that! :D I am totally aware of how Raven's door works, and failed to show so on here; thanks for being a sport and pointing that out! I made a point to correct that! (I didn't know how to describe the gliding thingerz, so I just took the "hinges" part off, heh heh...:S)
Anyways, let's begin chappie 3...
Ch. 3 – Loopholes
The book was propped up on a railing of Beast Boy's bunk bed.
Love Potion #9
To contrive this ancient, but effective potion, one will require:
1 cup ginseng
4 dashes of basil
3 tbsp. thyme (grounded)
12 peas
1 peppermint (optional)
6 strawberries
1 cup chamomile
1½ cups water
7 tsp. cinnamon
1 7 in. thread of red or pink silk
1 hair dryer, stove, or other heating substance
Beast Boy followed the directions carefully, and looked at the elixir in the bowl that lay on his bed. It was becoming a magnificently sky blue substance.
After adding the basil and thyme, proceed to alter the color by adding the last strawberry and the thread of silk. If heated for the appropriate amount of time, the substance's color should disappear and become clear.
He plopped the strawberry into the bowl where it half dissolved, and placed the thread of silk in gently, as though he was tucking a baby in for a nap. He plugged in Starfire's blow dryer – he had to borrow a few things from other people for this experiment, of course – and hung it over the bowl, as he watched in awe as the potion gained the clear affluence as promised in the book. He stirred it a little bit longer, and then propped the bowl on his nearest shelf to let it set.
After allowing the substance to set for 15 minutes, pour it into a vial to keep it lasting and fresh for up to a week. To put the potion into use, pour a tablespoon of it into whatever drink the victim is drinking. The potion will take effect immediately after the first sip and two days thereafter. To continue the process, follow these directions every two days.
Once Beast Boy got past the complicated text, it was simple enough to understand what had to be done. He stored the potion into a vial, and was making his way out of his room when he heard a door close from the distance.
Three people saying a muffled "Hi, Raven" could be heard from the living room. Beast Boy yelped; he didn't expect her to be home already.
---
When Raven had entered the Tower, she came in to Cyborg playing one of his many video games, and Robin and Starfire watching semi-interestedly.
"How was the café?" Robin asked, taking his eyes off the screen, as soon as she stepped into the kitchen.
"Depressing, as usual," Raven said casually, opening up a cabinet near the stove. "I liked it."
She stood on her toes and took a tea bag from the top. She proceeded to collect her cup and some hot water to make her herbal tea.
"Anything new happen while I was gone?" she asked monotonously, now making her way to the couch. It wasn't as though she cared what was going on while she left, but she felt that she owed it to Robin for starting a conversation to continue it with another question.
"You'd be surprised," Robin mumbled, smirking involuntarily as he did so.
Starfire had heard this, and grew wide-eyed at Robin. "You promised!" she whispered harshly.
The whisper wasn't quiet enough to keep Raven from overhearing, yet she went on as though she didn't notice, merely raising an eyebrow, and opening one of her books with an "O...K...."
Robin and Starfire continued on with their whispered spat, until the nearby portal opened up, and they grew quiet at once.
Beast Boy stood there, an oddly shaped lump in his pocket, scratching his neck haphazardly. "Hey, you guys. Hey Raven." He tinged a light pink.
Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg all greeted him back. Raven was the only one who didn't acknowledge him so, which, Beast Boy thought, she should have, seeing as she was given a full-attention greeting separate from the rest. Oh well...that could change soon...
"So, what's for the munching?" he said, a little louder, stepping into the kitchen, and opening the refrigerator.
A rhetorical question.
Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg all continued on with their eyes glued to the screen, while Raven simply took her first sip of tea, and grew curious with the taste. "More sugar..." she muttered, closing her book.
She made way to the kitchen once more, and was halted by the now nervous green elf. Raven tried moving left, and Beast Boy simply moved in the same direction. She tried to pass him in the right, but he leaned the same way.
"Beast Boy?" Raven questioned with her unyielding stare. "Move."
"Right...uh...sorry," he said, quickly pushing away from Raven, who looked back at him for a split second, bewildered, and then rolled her eyes. She looked for the sugar packets that were on the countertop.
If she was confused before, Raven didn't know what to feel next when she turned around and saw Beast Boy standing almost like a statue near her cup of tea.
She quickly, but cautiously, approached the spot she was previously sitting in, scrutinizing Beast Boy. He automatically made a show of plastering a larger-than-necessary smile on his face...as though he was hiding something.
"Uh..." Raven said, not sure of how to approach the shape shifter. "Are you...feeling OK?" She snatched her herbal tea and clutched it near her chest.
Beast Boy saw this and hesitantly, but vigorously, nodded, stepping away from the spot Raven had situated herself. He dashed off to the doorway nearly at the speed of light, and ran down the corridor that led to his room.
Raven looked at Robin and Starfire inquiringly, but they both seemed to just shrug Beast Boy's behavior off, as though it was nothing abnormal.
She deposited the sugar into her cup, and focused her energy on it. In a matter of seconds, her tea was swirling fervently in her cup, and the next second, it stopped, well-mixed.
Cyborg paused his game for a moment to look at Raven, just like Robin and Starfire were; she disregarded it.
Just as the Goth lifted the cup to her lips, Starfire jumped up as though to halt her action. Raven stopped and looked at her questioningly. Starfire looked at her, then the cup, and pouted slightly, but then shook her head and dismissed the whole action.
"OK," Raven said, "I give up. What's with everyone today."
"Nothing," Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg said simultaneously, and way too quickly.
"Right..." Raven said, obviously not buying the reaction. "And I'm wearing a pink tutu."
"Really, nothing is going on," Robin said, trying to act easygoing.
"That is correct, absolutely nothing!" Starfire chimed in, waving Raven's question off.
She stared at them for a while, trying to read any strange body language, but couldn't come up with a thing. She put the cup of tea to her lips once more and took a sip. The tea was soothing and welcoming to her throat, and...was that string she tasted?
Raven swallowed, put the cup down, and plunged her hand into her mouth in a panicked fashion, not even bothering to be nonexistent about the situation.
The other three Titans looked at her cautiously. She choked on her hand, and managed to tug it away with a thread of silk in it.
She analyzed it carefully, and then looked at her three friends. "Does this belong to anyone of you?"
The three shook their heads.
"Then who exactly messed with my tea?" Raven demanded, suddenly remembering the living room didn't hold one other person. "Where's Beast Boy?" she said through gritted teeth, apparently steamed at his idea of a joke. The sorceress balled her hands into fists, and turned around, her intention being to find the prankster, when Starfire grabbed her hand.
Raven spun back around, and Starfire sighed. She looked pointedly at Robin and Cyborg and said, "I can hide this no longer. If Beast Boy is to confront Raven with these means, then she has a right to know, especially since she is our friend."
"OK," Raven growled, "what are you going on about?"
Starfire seated herself, and Raven followed suite, taking the cushion next to her.
"Have you noticed," the alien princess began, "Beast Boy's strange behavior lately?"
"Hard to miss," Raven stated, sarcasm etching into her voice.
"Well, it is because...because he likes you," Starfire finished, looking Raven in the eyes.
Raven just cocked her eyebrow up. "Is this your idea of a joke, Star? Because I'm not laughing."
"Like you laugh at anything, anyway," Cyborg murmured, now bored with the situation, resuming his game.
Raven looked in his direction angrily, before returning her gaze to Starfire.
"It's not a joke," Robin said.
"And so he put the string in my tea because...?" Raven hinted for an answer, crossing her arms.
"Actually, that was part of a potion he concocted," Starfire established matter-of-factly, poising one of her fingers.
"A potion?" Raven smirked incredulously. "But Beast Boy doesn't know any..." A sudden realization showed across her face. "He went into my room...didn't he?"
Cyborg nodded feverishly. "Yep, all him."
"Where there's a Beast Boy, there's a Cyborg," Raven snapped, knowing full well what had happened last time they entered her room.
Cyborg gulped and smiled at Raven nervously. "Eh...I'm sorry?"
"Oh, you will be," she said, an evil sort of smile curling her lips. She turned back to Starfire and Robin. "What was he doing there, if you're aware of it?"
"I am sorry to say that I am not entirely sure, but I do know he made a potion," Starfire said, wringing her hands.
"Yeah, he mentioned something about love potions when he went into the bathroom to get Star's blow dryer," Robin instituted.
"So...Beast Boy's infatuated with me for some weird reason?" Raven inquired, though she wouldn't admit it, highly amused with the situation.
"I'm not sure if 'infatuated' is the right word," Robin said.
They were silent for a couple of seconds until Raven jumped up and walked towards the doorway that led to their rooms. "Might as well go see what he did..." she sighed before the entryway shut behind her.
---
Raven pried open her room door...someone took it right off and tried to place it back... Cyborg's weight could've done it easily.
She looked around her room. Beast Boy had left the place just the way she had left it before retreating to her favorite café. She took a look around, and noticed how her books were leaning on each other slightly heavier than before.
He took a book, she thought. But what could he have possibly wanted?...Wait a second.
The books were leaning on each other slightly heavier, which meant that it was easily a thin book he obtained. She looked at the books surrounding it...all about managing love and keeping one's chi intact...
Of course! she reflected. That prying monkey took a love potion book...is he serious?!
The thought made her become automatically angry. She glided towards Beast Boy's room, rage consuming her more and more each second. And then she stopped.
Is this how he wanted to play? Reigning on someone's free will?
She knocked on his door. No sound or anything. Perfect.
Then let the games begin...
She walked to his bed, where the book and an empty bowl were easily spotted. The book was propped up to a certain page. Raven read it.
Love Potion #9
Probably the most powerful of the bunch, number 9 assumes the role of a clear liquid, if mixed correctly, that makes the brewer's victim of choice liable for deep feelings of unconditional love.
To contrive this ancient, but effective potion, one will require:
1 cup ginseng
4 dashes of basil
3 tbsp. thyme (grounded)
12 peas
1 peppermint (optional)
6 strawberries
1 cup chamomile
1½ cups water
7 tsp. cinnamon
1 7 in. thread of red or pink silk
1 hair dryer, stove, or other heating substance
How naïve of him...yet, in some strange and twisted way...sort of...cute?
Is that what I'm really thinking?! Maybe the potion did have an effect on me...
No it didn't...the first rule of any sort of magic is that it doesn't work when you try to control one's freewill.
So this is how he wanted to play, was it?
"Then," Raven smirked, "it's only fair to play fair. It says it 'makes the brewer's victim of choice liable for deep feelings of unconditional love'...but it didn't say for who..." she reasoned out loud.
Well, this was her chance. If Raven wanted to teach Beast Boy a lesson, it would have to be for this.
Come tomorrow...she'd be playing a whole new ball game...with 'happy' as her Most Valuable Personality...
And so ends chappie 3...hope you liked!
A/N # 1: OMG! Talk about associating peoples' names with their qualities...these guys really did it in with Starfire! As most of you know, Starfire's real name is Kori'andr, aka- Kory Anders.
OK, so I got this book out of the library...some Romany gypsy book, and they had stuff on amulets: how to make one, the herbs and stones that are associated with it, etc. Well, here's a quick fun facts lesson for ya...
There are 5 categories for which amulets are commonly made: protection, wealth, love, health, and power... I'm sure everyone's picked up on the strong compassionate quality that Starfire possesses...well, while I was looking down the list of herbs to put in for Love Potion # 9...guess what type of herb I found? The name is Coriander, folks. Now if that's not absolute care for choosing the most perfectly suitable name for a beloved character, then I dunno WHAT is!
A/N # 2: DO NOT be fooled by the directions I put in the formula for Love Potion # 9. I do not know how to actually make Love Potion # 9, nor do I think the thing really exists. The ingredients were all MADE UP from the book I found with Star's name in it, so DON'T TRY TO MAKE IT AT HOME!!! Well, on second thought...do, and tell me how it tastes! :P
Oh, and R & R, por favor! :)