A/N: So, guys... remember back to a few months ago when I mentioned sumpin', sumpin' about a series of one-shots? ...No? Well, I did. So there. And I've decided to start. So before you get confused, the title explains it all. Each chapter is a different story, not a continuation of the last.
I'll do any story y'all suggest (unless it's ABSOLUTELY ridiculous) if I like what you've suggested. So review and leave me some ideas/suggestions!
So this first story came to me a loooooooong time ago. Like, years ago. Originally it was going to be for an InuYasha fic, but I like the context better for a TT fic. Particularly of the BBRae variety... So the plot bunny grew... and grew... and grew. Then it sprouted these nasty vampire fangs and got violent... and well, now it's holding this adorable little pistol to my head threatening to write this. So, here I go...
Disclaimer: Due to anti-slavery laws grumble (hopes she doesn't offend anyone) I can't technically "own" the teen titans.
Oh, and one more thing... I really don't want to "fuck anyone off" as much as I want to confuse them shudders at some of the stranger reviews from OMPK so just because I am starting this fic does not by any means mean (heh) that I am discontinuing my other one.
Onward, and enjoy the first "pointless- one- shot," "Camping Sucks."
She could just kill Robin about right now. Whoever decided that hiking and camping were a "fun" way to spend time with your friends should be dragged into the streets and shot.
"Mmmrph..." Raven rolled over in the tiny, two-man tent as she wrapped her large blue sleeping bag over her shivering and shaking shoulders.
She had been desperately trying to go to sleep for hours, but the incessant cold air and her aching muscles just wouldn't allow it.
"Zzzzzznnng..." escaped from Starfire's lips as she rolled over, sleeping soundly.
'How does she do it?' a vein twitched in Raven's temple when the alien girl's arm dropped gracefully into her lap.
Raven had insisted that she and Starfire get to use the larger tent; she needed her personal space. But of course she didn't get her wish. There were more boys (not to mention they were all bigger than her) and therefore they needed more space. Even Starfire was against her, claiming that it was only for one night and they would be just fine to share the tiny tent. Refusing to argue pointlessly, Raven angrily admitted defeat and had been sitting right where she was ever since that moment all those hours ago.
The whole day had been fairly awful for her, though she would not openly complain. Deep inside, however, she was having an emotional conflict against the terribly pent up rage. And who could blame her?
It had all started when Robin came home from grocery shopping with some "wonderful" news about some "excellent" new camping ground in this "local" forest preserve. Originally, Raven had brushed off the whole idea, reassuring him that it was "very interesting." But that's when he pulled out the brochure. And the damn map of the place, too. He soon lured in the others with his cunning, making lovely promises of fun, games, bonding and the like.
Raven had figured they would see through his devious lies, knowing that by this he OBVIOUSLY meant they would be spending all their time hiking and strength training. This was Robin they were talking about, and he was all business. Even Raven knew that he only played video games for the strategic element. That, and he was highly competitive.
But naturally, Starfire was always up for a new "Earthen" experience (not to mention quality time with Robin), Beast Boy was intrigued by the natural aspect and his desire to test his abilities transforming into the wild animals, and, of course, Cyborg was completely bent on the idea of outdoor cooking. That left Raven out numbered. So she had grumpily trekked up to her room and packed the comforts of home into her small duffel.
Unfortunately, the idea of actually camping wasn't enough. Oh, of course not. They had to take Cyborg's precious baby with them. Proud as she was of his handy work, she had become utterly jaded of his comments on how beautiful the car was, and how wonderful his creation was, and yadda, yadda, yadda. Even more so, Beast Boy's comments about how he should just marry the damn thing were getting old, too. And he just kept asking if she understood the joke. Because "she" was a machine, and so was he. Get it? Get it? Arg. Yes, she got it and it was irritating. And then there was Starfire, who had an inquiry for every little thing they saw. Beast Boy's attempts at describing the soy as "little tofu plants" just added to the confusion, and wasn't really helping Raven's growing headache.
Upon arrival, and a mishap involving a ding in the baby in the parking lot, Robin once again busted out the map. Naturally, the destination site was on the other flippin' side of the camp ground, and there were rivers, and trees, and wild animals in the way. Leave it to Robin to turn a camp ground into an obstacle course.
More accustomed to flying, both Raven and Starfire found that hiking wasn't exactly their "thing," as it were. But with Starfire's enhanced alien strength, she had a slight upper hand in the endurance category. As if Robin hadn't already proven his point by choosing a site on the exact opposite side of the grounds, he used that little map of his to make sure they had the most difficult time possible reaching their goal.
So they had to climb up this tree... Yeah, that didn't go over well. It turns out she didn't have enough upper body strength to support herself. Robin finally gave in, and let Beast Boy turn into a panther and carry her up. This of course, was much to Raven's chagrin. Then he had them cross this river... that didn't go over well, either. It turns out that trying to walk across a narrow tree trunk while balancing her bags on her back wasn't Raven's "thing" either. By the time she managed her way across, she was dealing with a pair of sopping wet boots. On the other side of the river they were faced with tall grass. VERY tall grass. Tall grass up to Raven's waist as far as the eye could see. And Robin said the site was just on the other side of it. How lovely.
The thick, scratchy blades lashed at her bare legs, and she could feel several of the wounds opening. Her arms ached from holding her small bag above her head in an attempt not to scratch the thin plastic open and lose her things in the sea of grass. Either the other Titans were having a far easier time than her, or they were very good actors and were not showing their displeasure.
Finally, at the opening, Robin turned to his teammates with a saddened look and announced their hike was over and they should set up camp. Raven finally thought things were looking up, but then he pulled open one of the tents.
After approximately an hour of Beast Boy and Cyborg arguing about the proper way to assemble each tent and Robin yelling at everyone about team work and togetherness, the two tents sat side by side. Another argument ensued, and left Raven, grumpy once more, to set up her sleeping bag in the tiny tent alongside Starfire. The tent was so small, it would hardly hold the two girls. If either one of them were to roll over during the night, they would likely end up on top of and suffocate the other. This worried Raven, as Starfire wasn't exactly a "sound sleeper."
By the time the two girls had finished setting up their tent and stumbled back outside, the sun was already beginning to set and the boys were creating an enormous "white man" fire. Upon success, Cyborg indulged in a victory dance, and set up a can of beans over the flames. None of them would have predicted next, for the can exploded and spew beans all over the five comrades.
The scalding dinner all over her legs was disgusting, but not as bad as Cyborg trying to eat it off the dirt or Robin trying to be all gentlemanly and assist Starfire. Awkward teen romance was something she did not wish to witness. Since the beans had failed, Beast Boy insisted on toasting marshmallows. After failing to avoid practically being force fed the toasty brown, sugary snacks by the green menace, Raven had wiped her face frantically to get the goo off of her cheeks.
She had decided that it was only fitting that the creators of the mess be the ones to clean it up, so she retired to her make shift bed. The night had gotten progressively darker, and the temperature had dropped dramatically. Raven now sat with a slim, orange arm across her legs and her sleeping bag clumsily wrapped around her shoulders. The damn thing wasn't doing much good; she was shivering so much that her teeth clanked against each other and were actually beginning to hurt.
She rotated her body about 90 degrees so that she was actually facing the side of the tent. A mysterious orange glow danced out the other side, telling Raven that the fire was still ablaze. Deciding she would never get to sleep at this rate, she may as well go out there and try to warm up.
Beast Boy sat beneath a large, brown, fleece blanket 5 feet from the fire. The cold night disallowed him to sleep, so he had ventured out of the tent he had shared with fearless and the vending machine. With nothing better to do, he had acquired a chunk of wood and had "borrowed" a pocket knife from Robin and began aimlessly whittling, tossing the tiny flecks of wood into the flames. He had been there for several hours, it seemed, and the shapeless block had began to take the form of a bird.
His concentration was broken when he heard loud trembling and footsteps. He looked up to see Raven wandering towards the warmth of the fire. He assumed she had not seen him yet, as she was rubbing her eyes and her hair was askew.
"What are YOU doing up?" she asked him once she realized she was not alone.
"Too cold, couldn't sleep. What's the matter with you?" he cocked a mischeivious brow. "Lack of meditation messed up your chi?"
"No..." she said, restraining her anger. "I was cold and saw the fire, so I came out here to warm up."
"Whatever you say, Rae," he shrugged and continued to chip away at the block.
She sat down opposite him and held her hands out in front of the flame to warm them. They sat in silence except for the crackling of the flames. Occasionally, Beast Boy would look up and steal a glance at his dark friend. She continued to shiver despite her time basking in the fire's glow.
"Are... you still cold?" he asked hesistantly.
"What's it to you?"
"Do you wanna share my blanket? It's really warm, and it's plenty big enough," he offered openly.
"Are you sure...?" she quirked a perfect eyebrow.
"Would I have offered if I wasn't?" he held his little project in one hand and opened the side of the blanket as if to welcome her in.
She obliged, and sat down next to him. Though she was fairly uncomfortable with be so close to someone that his leg was brushing against her own, she was grateful for the warmth he offered. Silence consumed them once more. Raven sat watching the flames, clutching onto her side of the blanket. She saw him doing something out of her peripheral vision, and subtly turned her head. His hands seemed to be busy with something that required deep concentration.
"What are you doing?" she tried to peer over his shoulder.
"Whittling..." he muttered.
"I didn't know you whittled," she replied.
"I do... every once in awhile..." Beast Boy was having a hard time keeping concentration and carrying out a conversation.
Several moments passed, and Raven's attention reverted back to the dancing fire. The warmth returned to her, causing a tingling feeling to run up and down her limbs. She sighed.
"Finally! Finished!" he announced proudly, holding up his work.
"Hmm? Actually... that's a pretty realistic bird, Beast Boy," Raven complimented.
"Ya think?" he examined it closely. "Here, you can have it."
He grabbed her open palm and thrust the tiny wooden replica into her hand, the roughness of the wood and the softness of his hand sending a strange shiver up her spine.
"Isn't it a bit trite to give a girl something with the same name as her?"
"Huh?" Beast Boy scratched his head, obviously neither understanding the word "trite" or what she meant.
"What I mean to say is... thank you," she gave him the tiniest of smiles, to which he beamed toothily.
"No prob, Rae."
He felt a slight weight on his shoulder, and he turned to face her. However, she had fallen asleep and her head had lolled onto his shoulder.
"Heh..." he laughed slightly. "No matter how much I try, I don't think I'll ever figure you out."
He carefully wrapped his arm around her waist and laid back onto the soft, green grass and allowed her to use his shoulder like a pillow. He wrapped the blanket around the two of them and gazed into the beautiful night sky.
Before dozing off himself, Beast Boy reminded himself to thank Robin for the great camping idea.
A/N: Heh... The End! At least, for this fic. I hope I captured Raven's anger... I love torturing her! It's so fun and easy. But... I'm sure you kids figured that one out already.
So... didja like it? Didja didja didja?? Tell me!
Before you ask... There will NOT be a continuation of this! Only more one shots. These are NOT chapters!!! Get it?
So now I must take a poll... for my next one-shot, I know for SURE it will involve Starfire and one other person. It's about her and character "x" at a sushi bar! Hehehe... At first I thought it would be hilarious to have her go with Raven, but then I thought maybe I've done a bit much with Raven and don't wanna over kill it. So then I thought maybe it could be her and Robin. Then it could be a romantic comedy! Great idea, right? But then I thought about all the different little things that would piss Raven off so much more easily than they would Robin. But then I thought I REALLY should give Raven a rest and put another titan through hell. And I love Robin...
So tell me! Which would you jerks- I mean... WONDERFUL PEOPLE (haha) rather see? A highly aggravated Raven with the ever curious Starfire having a girls' day gone awry or a simple romantic comedy between Robin and Starfire? I have the basis of the plot set, I just need to know which way to run with it.
And one last thing... got anything you want me to write about? Beyond the camping and sushi things, I don't really have a ton of ideas for one-shots. I mean... I CAN think of some stuff eventually, but your contributions would mean a lot. And besides which, you'd get a story dedicated to you! Yay!
So what are you gonna do? REVIEW!!
Slan, Kelly
