And now for a couple thousand announcements :D…
Alrighty, I said I was gonna try and get this done and posted by June 4th, but as you can see, that didn't go so well…DARN OFFLINE PLANS (except for seeing Harry Potter, b/c that was fun…)!!! Grrr… :l
Actually, I was trying to get this up yesterday, but my mom hogged the internet for her work all day, and every time I asked, she'd say maybe and delay the time even MORE by getting out of her chair and preoccupying herself with other things. Then it was around 10 pm, and she said NO for sure. So here I am, getting this thing up today. I apologize for the delay, but I tried my best. :S
I also seemed to have lied unintentionally in the 5th chappie…I said that that was prolly gonna be the longest chapter, and was clearly mistaken…that chapter was merely foreshadowing the longevity of the last two…
Again, hugs and Dairy Queen Cheesequake blizzards for everyone! Thanks so much for taking your time to R & R my ficcy; it helps me to improve my ever-so-amateur writing skills and provide better entertainment in upcoming stories and chappies, etc. :D
As for the moment in which I cunfuzzled mini-moni: When Happy Raven said "Fleas?" it was because BB was scratching his neck (again :P), and he wasn't paying attention to what she had said, so he said "No thanks…". Call it a lame attempt at humor or something…oO, :P. And thank you so much…I'm touched to be your first review (if I understood correctly) and to be on your fave stories and authors list…words cannot express how good it makes me feel to know that I'm entertaining you! :D
And that goes for all of you who've put my story or me on one of your lists: Fave story or author and author alert list. I'm truly touched to be there…I work hard for it that's for sure! :D
Oh yes, and to TamerTerra: First off, thanks for reviewing both my ficcies :D, and (secondly,) all will be explained shortly (in Ch. 7)…
And so…I present to you…chappie number…six…
WARNING: CONTAINS HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN MOVIE SPOILERS!…sort of…carry on, now…:P (Oh yeah, and I don't own Harry Potter, either! But I wish I owned Tom Felton…he's gotten even hotter! ::drools:: :P)
Ch. 6 – Dating Games, Part I
Beast Boy was slumped against the wall outside the Titans' bathroom. By this time in the morning, the changeling would normally be restless – using up quite a bit of energy competing against Cyborg on the Game Cube, or perhaps persuading the Titans to try his newest tofu creation. This time, however, he was helplessly awaiting Raven.
"You done yet?" he mumbled, now slouching onto the floor.
"No," was the muffled response.
"How about now?"
"No."
Beast Boy sighed. "Now?"
"Yep."
"How about now?"
"I said 'yes', already!" Raven stated from inside the lavatory.
"Oh," Beast Boy said, now standing up properly. "Why didn't you just say so?"
He dusted himself off, and positioned himself right in front of the bathroom door, readying himself for Raven to come out.
The door opened, and Raven stepped out majestically. "So…?" she said, spinning around once. "Whaddaya think?"
Beast Boy's face fell. He looked up at Raven inquisitively. "Ha, ha," he remarked sarcastically. "What 'cha hiding behind the cloak get up?" He pointed at her blue cloak – the one she always wore.
"Just the rest of my traditional suit," she said, spreading the cloak slightly to reveal her leotard.
Beast Boy blinked, and then scrutinized her. "You mean, you were in the bathroom for an hour and a half and you didn't even bother to make yourself look any different than from when you came in?!" He slapped himself on the forehead. Raven simply looked at him with her hands on her hips, stifling a laugh. "I don't get it," he said, shaking his head. "What do you ladies do in there?!"
Raven just giggled, and sighed. "Oh, BB. You have so much to learn about girls." She laughed some more at the confused expression on Beast Boy's face, and then grabbed his hand and dragged him through the corridor and into the living room, where the other Titans members were relaxing on the couch.
"OK, guys," Raven called, as they got to the front door. "We'll see ya in a bit."
"Alright, take care!" Cyborg said, in the midst of furious button clicking.
"Yeah…what he said…left…leeeeft…YEAH!" Robin said distractedly. "NO!!!"
"You know what I'm gonna say right?" Cyborg smirked.
"Yeah, and I don't wanna hear it," Robin muttered irritated.
"Well, here it goes anyway: BOOYAH! BOOYAH!! AND BOOYAH AGAIN!!!" he laughed.
"REMATCH!" Robin declared. And the two set off again.
"If I may inquire," said Starfire, leaning over the couch to look at Raven and Beast Boy, "what are your intended localities today?"
"Uh…" Raven pondered, putting a finger to her bottom lip, "I'm not sure." She looked at Beast Boy inquisitively.
"Loads of places!" he smiled. "Y'know…pizza, the movies, the park…happy places!"
"YAY!" Raven boomed. "I LOVE happy places!"
Beast Boy grew wide-eyed for a second at Raven's abrupt comment, and then calmed himself to a smile and reassuring nod. "OK, so we're off!"
"Farewell for now!" Starfire said, waving to them until their bodies were remote from the other Titans due to the closing entranceway.
GAME OVER.
"WHAT?!" Cyborg yelled at the game.
Starfire turned back around to look at the screen. "I believe it says 'game over', Cyborg."
"I know what it says, I just don't know why!" Cyborg commented.
Robin pointed to the top right hand corner of the screen. "You are aware that the game has a time limit?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
"Since when?!" Cyborg protested, bewildered. "Nobody told me this! And now we're tied!"
Robin just eyed him weirdly before sitting himself back onto the couch.
Cyborg merely shrugged at this, and then sighed his way back onto the couch, as well. "So…wanna do anything else?"
"I dunno…" Robin answered in a half-committed tone.
"Well I for one," Starfire said, situated between the two boys, "do not wish to stay potato-ing the couch knowing all the while that we could be in the midst of an ever joyous activity of some sort like our friends, Raven and Beast Boy, are presently undergoing."
Cyborg stared at her blankly for a second, and then leaned forward to comment to Robin, "She…does know how to breathe, right?"
Robin looked at Starfire for a moment in a mixture of awe and curiosity – how she could say all that she had just said without sparing a second to regain breath was beyond him. He looked back at Cyborg and shrugged.
Cyborg relaxed on the couch once more and zoned his focus out on the TV screen. "Where'd those two say they were going to, anyway?"
Starfire leapt at the chance to maintain a conversation. "I am certain Beast Boy said he would take Raven to 'happy places', such as the parlor of pizza, and the 'movies', and perhaps they would journey to the park."
Robin looked at Starfire with raised eyebrows. "Happy places?"
"Indeed."
Cyborg chuckled a little. "Happy places," he muttered. "Man, if Raven wasn't on that potion, I'd say she'd freak at Beast Boy for even taking her to someplace; even more – someplace happy."
"Yeah…happy doesn't suit Raven," Robin said, chortling at the mere thought of it.
"I disagree," Starfire said, crossing her arms. "I think that Raven's opportunity to experience as unbridled a joy as she has never felt is indubitably suitable."
Robin and Cyborg just shrugged at each other…again, and then Cyborg took notice. "Y'know, now that I realize it, I'd say Raven's been acting pretty weird lately."
"She has been under the potion," Robin said pointedly.
"Yeah, but it's not that," Cyborg said, waving him off. He explained further. "I know she's under that little love potion, but as far as I'm concerned, that's only supposed to make her…I dunno…in love? Not as…happy as she's been lately."
"You know…" Robin said, shaking a curious finger at him, "you've brought up a good point. I don't even remember her being sarcastic ever since Beast Boy gave her that potion. And he told us what the book said."
"Are you trying to say," Starfire chimed in, "that the potion is having some sort of effect on Raven's feelings? Because then I say that love would make any person happy, yes?"
Then it hit him. "Of course…why didn't I see this before!?"
"What do you mean, Cyborg?" Robin said, narrowing his eyes at the android interestedly.
"Look. Quite a while ago, I think it was that Doctor Light we were after…"
"You are referring to that time Raven was overtaken by some sort of emotion that led her to attempt to maim Doctor Light into a fit of hypothermia?"
Cyborg blinked. "Something like that."
"Then I do believe I know very well of the occasion you are talking about!" she said, clasping her hands together.
"Oh," Robin said, nodding, "you mean that day we had 'breakfast for dinner', and couldn't find you or Beast Boy because you were in Raven's room?"
"Right," Cyborg said, pointing a finger at Robin so as to acknowledge his statement. "That day, Beast Boy and I were sucked into Raven's mind by a portal she had on her dresser, disguised as a mirror."
"So that explains where you two were," Robin said, listening intently.
"And that's not the half of it," Cyborg smirked, feeling confident and genius all of a sudden. "When we got sucked into her mind, we saw a whole bunch of different sides of Raven that…well, let's face it, we never knew existed."
Robin and Starfire glanced at each other and then looked back at Cyborg attentively.
"When we were trying to get out of her mind, we came across all sorts of different sides of her personality – each holding a certain emotion that she's constantly having to keep under control. Man, I wish you'd all have seen it…I mean, she's so complex…having to hold back all of those feelings so they could only stray and be themselves in her mind and all…" he rambled. The other two raised an eyebrow, and when he realized he was straying from the conversation, he continued onto his point. "What I'm saying is, there were so many sides to her, and none of which we've seen for a while – "
" – except for her happy side," Robin finished.
"Yep. That little pink one. She's acting almost like her happy side is all she's got right now," Cyborg stated.
"So you mean to say," Starfire jumped in, thoughtfully, "that perhaps Raven's freewill was undisrupted after all? That she is merely…," Starfire gasped, so Robin concluded her statement.
" – pretending to be under a spell. But, why would she do that?" Robin contemplated.
"I would like to offer an answer!" Starfire beamed, raising her hand. "It could be because Beast Boy went into Raven's room in the first place, she is seeking some sort of revenge to teach him a lesson once and for all!" she suggested.
"Not a bad theory, Star," Robin said, amused at how quickly the answer came to her. "But why would she put herself in such a position?"
"I dunno," Cyborg shrugged. "'Cause she's Raven?"
"Well, it'll teach Beast Boy a lesson, that's for sure," Robin commented, chuckling with amusement.
"Yeah, that furry little elf had it coming to him with all the times he's messed with Raven," Cyborg agreed.
"So all is fine?" Starfire said, making sure. "Raven is doing this of her own accord? She is being happy to teach Beast Boy the troubles of what may occur when one takes away her ability to control her emotions?"
"That's what it seems like," Robin nodded. "So…do we tell Beast Boy?"
Cyborg thought for a moment, and then said, "Yeah…no. Let him wallow in the mess he's created."
"Yeah, you're right," Robin smiled, slouching onto the couch once more.
The three heaved a sigh simultaneously and stared at the blank TV screen.
"So…anyone up for Street Racers II?" Cyborg asked.
"I'm in!" Robin said, grabbing his controller once more. A second later, the two boys were clicking their controllers' buttons furiously once more.
Starfire simply looked at the two, heaved another sigh, and leaned back into the plush cushions, staring blankly at the screen. This was going to be a long day…
---
Beast Boy sighed, placing his head on his hand. This was going to be a long day… but I don't mind that… he thought, smiling.
He watched Raven dreamily, in awe at how someone with such a petite frame could have such a big appetite. She devoured three New York cheese pizza slices and was on the verge of pursuing the fourth, when she halted her action and looked at Beast Boy, smirking as she imitated his pose – her head on her hand.
Beast Boy snapped back into reality when he saw this, and questioned her motives for imitating him with a raised eyebrow, tilting his head to one side.
"I'll race ya," she said, acknowledging the pizza pan that held the last two slices.
"You're gonna race me?" he said, both eyebrows up now. "Y'know that I never get full," he warned. Then seeing Raven cross her arms as though saying 'yeah, right', he added, "OK, almost. Almost never get full."
Raven giggled a bit, as though ignoring his statement. "So, do you accept the challenge?" she asked, readying her hands to grab one of the last slices.
"You're on," Beast Boy leered, readying himself for his slice, as well. "3…2…1…GO!"
They both grabbed their slices and were off. Beast Boy practically choked on his first bite as he tore off half of the slice, and Raven was munching little by little, never taking her mouth off her pizza, although, she had to admit, she was rather amused with the green adolescent's approach. She wanted to laugh at his eating style, but that would buy him more time.
"You had a good approach, and I almost thought you'd beat me for sure when I gagged on my pizza," Beast Boy said, licking his fingers, "but I guess I'm just too good for you," he shrugged.
Raven swallowed her last bit of pizza, and then laughed. Beast Boy just looked at her and laughed as well, not sure what exactly he was laughing at.
"That was so much fun!" she managed, between laughs, and then got competitive again, slamming her fists on the table. "Let's do it again…rematch."
The way Raven glared at Beast Boy made him gulp and reach for something to say. He sheepishly scratched his neck while saying, "A-Actually, Raven…I was hoping we could, uh, catch a m-movie, right now…y'know, if that's cool and all…?"
The gilded Goth cocked her head to one side, analyzing Beast Boy. "Do I get to choose the movie?" she said, innocently.
"Uh, yeah! Sure…" he shrugged.
Raven simply nodded, and then jumped up and grabbed Beast Boy's hand, shouting, "YAY!"
---
Beast Boy walked in amused and anticipating, and came out of the theatres confused, listening to an elated and sophisticated Raven explain the most complex scene of the Harry Potter movie they just saw.
"…see? It's because of the fact that time continues and history does not change, that Hermione and Harry were able to use the time-turner in the first place, and rescue Buckbeak and Sirius. And I'm sure somewhere in another continuum, Hermione is still getting her time-turner to begin with. It's an endless cycle of things. And when – "
" – I…think I get it, Rae," Beast Boy said, rubbing one of his temples part in confusion – and part to concentrate on getting Raven's voice in one ear and out the other quicker.
Why does she have to be so smart?
Beast Boy looked up at her. Gawd, she's pretty…he mused. He remembered the dream…
"If anyone's even going to think of you as their husband, it's going to be me…"
He wondered what their babies would look like.
"BABIES?!" he gasped, in wide-eyed terror. How could he even think like that…well, on the contrary, wasn't it because he thought like that in the first place the reason that made him break into Raven's room to make that potion?
Raven looked at him oddly. "Yeah…babies. I'm sure in another continuum, Harry is still a baby, as well as Hermione and Ron, and every other living being. My theory would be that every minute of every hour of every day, week, month, year, etcetera…could be relived over and over again depending on where in eternity one exists…"
Maybe that's why babies popped into my head, Beast Boy reasoned. After all, she's talking about them right now…
"…and you're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?" Raven smirked, hands on her hips, as they entered the park.
Beast Boy snapped his head up and looked at her, searching for some excuse all the while. "I…well…I was…um…er…"
Raven giggled for a while at his stuttering, and then looked at his hand…and took it in hers.
Definitely extreme, but if it'll get me his confession…besides, what does he know? I'm "under a potion" for goodness' sake.
Beast Boy looked at his hand interlaced with hers. He knew he was blushing – his face burned so much. He had to look at her though…
He tilted his head up and looked into Raven's eyes – he could swim in them, they were so blue – smiling and blushing all the while. Then, his stomach panged, and he felt guilty. "This…this isn't right," he moaned quietly, unlacing his and Raven's hands and leading her to a nearby rock to sit.
"What d'you mean?" 'Happy' Raven questioned in an innocent fashion.
"I have to tell you something…" he sighed.
Yes!
Raven looked at him intently, trying to act curious.
"You see…" he began.
Here it comes!
"I have a call."
"…What?" she blinked.
"Yeah, I think Star's paging us," he remarked, taking out his Titans' communicator.
"Welll…can't she…wait?" Raven said, exasperatedly.
Beast Boy looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "…It could be trouble."
"…Right! Of course!" she said, laughing lightly in an embarrassed manner.
Beast Boy just continued to look at her funny, and opened up his communicator to Starfire's pleading face.
"FRIENDS!" she yelled into the communicator, making Beast Boy jump from the urgency and volume in her voice. Desperation was apparent in her tone. "Thank the Lord of Tameran that I have located you!" she whispered frantically. "Are you busy?"
"Well…not really…just talking," Beast Boy said, scrutinizing the alien for her tone. "Why?"
"Please hurry back!" she cried. "I am in need of some sort of companionship at this time. The games have tormented me long enough!"
Beast Boy finally took notice of the background. Behind Starfire's head, he could make out two cars racing, and Robin and Cyborg could be heard hissing at each other.
"Uh…Star?" he said, chancing a look in Raven's direction. She was expressionless, but her arms were crossed, suggesting she may be upset.
"Yes?" Starfire answered.
"We're kind of in the middle of a date," Beast Boy hinted at her, whispering into the communicator.
Starfire looked with frantic eyes at Beast Boy, who was unmoving. She finally sighed and gave up. "Very well," she said, as though on the verge of tears. "Continue forth. I am sorry to disrupt. I will deteriorate amongst the plush cushions of this forsaken couch now. Good bye."
Beast Boy cast a look at Raven, with sorrowful eyes, and then turned back to Starfire, who was now making a show of closing her eyes and leaning onto the couch mournfully.
"Star? Wait!" he said.
Starfire looked up quickly, her eyes filled with hope once more.
"Come meet us at the park," he offered. "Get outta the Tower."
"Really?" she said, hoping against hope that he was serious. "You are certain that I would not be disrupting?"
"Well…" he looked in Raven's direction once more. She cast a tense glance at him, and then softened at Starfire's plea. She smiled, and nodded. Beast Boy smiled back at her. "Nah, you wouldn't be disturbing anything. It'd be great for just us three to hang out together for once!"
"Oh, a trillion thank yous!" Raven heard Starfire say. "This is so glorious! I am eternally grateful! I have no knowledge of what else to say!"
"Hey, Star? Could you keep it down? We're in the middle of a game."
Beast Boy snickered at Robin's comment, and erupted into a fit of laughter at the expression on Starfire's face afterwards.
"Listen, there's nothing else to say," Beast Boy told her, when he finished laughing. "Just come on over."
"Again, I thank you!" she smiled joyously, her face now disappearing from the communicator's screen.
Beast Boy clamped his communicator shut and returned it to its rightful position in his belt, turning to Raven. "You sure it's OK she comes?" he said, coming to her.
Raven heaved a sigh, and then smiled again. "Yeah, it's OK," she confirmed. Beast Boy returned the smile.
Damn it…so close…
ONE MORE CHAPPIE TO GO!!! And you can BET that'll be the longest one! :D. Happy reading! (And reviewing? :D hint hint…:P)