Ordinarily any day which the Titans got to spend in leisure would see Beast Boy busy at the Playstation with either Cyborg or Robin, and the day would normally pass with him remaining in that position. But for whatever reason today was different. He was sitting at the kitchen counter hammering away at a small laptop, and for whatever reason nothing could coax him away from it.
Let's see . . . oh darn! I misspelled that! . . . I think. Blast, why do I always hit that key by mistake? Grrr, this is going to take forever!
"Yo, BB! You've been sittin' there all day! How about a little game, dawg?" Cyborg asked unexpectedly at Beast Boy's shoulder, soliciting a yelp and a fall from his stool.
"Not now, Cy! I'm busy!" he responded sulkily as he got back on his seat.
"Too busy for Playstation? Whatcha doin?" Cyborg asked, scratching the metal half of his pate in puzzlement.
"Er . . . nothin'!" Beast Boy said nervously.
"Nothin'? Nothin' don't take all day!" Cyborg pointed out. "C'mon, at least tell me what show it's based on."
"Um . . . you know that Nickelodeon show 'Kablaam?'" he suggested hesitantly.
"Oh yeah, that's pretty funny!" Cyborg approved. "So which segment are you using, 'Action League Now?' That's the best one!"
"I'm not using any of the segments," Beast Boy said softly.
"Not using any of the segments? Then how are you writing a 'Kablaam' fic?" Despite Beast Boy's obvious disapproval Cyborg insisted on looking over his shoulder at the computer screen.
Henry and June come out on stage. "Welcome to 'Kablaam!'" they both say. Then June turns to Henry and asks him, "So what do we have lined up for today?" But for some reason Henry just stares at her, unable to say a word. She waves her hand in front of his eyes. "Earth to Henry. You in there?" she asks. Henry blushes and turns away, then turns back and stutters "S-S-Sorry, June. Today we start with an episode of . . . uh . . . " "Action League Now?" suggests June. "Yeah, 'Action League Now,'" says Henry. As they go to the edge of the screen to pull open the "page" Henry stares at June's delicate features, her adorable neck, her sparkling eyes, her
Cyborg looked up with a stunned expression on his face.
"Uh, yeah, you're writing a romance fic about those two kids who host 'Kablaam.' But don't you know, man?" (And here he lowered his voice.) "They're like, brother and sister. Gross!!!"
"They are NOT!" Beast Boy insisted in his most outraged tone, "they're just friends and co-workers who are . . . drawn similarly."
Cyborg arched an eyebrow. "I don't know, man. I'll take your word for it. But they're not a couple I would write a romance fic about."
"You'd never write a romance fic because you can't do it!" Beast Boy responded with unexpected bitterness.
"What? Why, I could too, and probably a lot better than you! Hey . . . why are you all over my case anyway? I was just curious!"
"Oh, well excuuuuuuse me, Mr. Ernest Hemingway!" Cyborg sneered, "since you're so determined that you'd rather be friends with a couple of make-believe cartoon characters than your real life friend, I think I'll just leave you to your depraved incestuous fantasies!" And he turned on his heel and walked away.
"They're not brother and sister!!!" Beast Boy insisted again at the half robot's back. Cyborg merely responded with a wave of the hand over his shoulder and continued out of the room with a "hmmph!"
"What does he know?" Beast Boy moped as he returned to his work. "I'm trying to create a work of art here! That tin can wouldn't understand it anyway! Now let's see, where was I? Oh yeah!" And looking at where he had left off, he resumed.
luscious ruby lips, her gorgeous Roman nose.
"Wait a minute. Does that sound too silly? No, she definitely has a gorgeous Roman nose . . . at least compared to a similarly drawn cartoon character."
How it tore him apart every show to share the stage with her, to join her in humourous banter, and to turn the page for each feature. Yet all the while he was dying inside, because he loved her and she would never know. She was merely a co-worker; how could she ever return his feelings? No, her adorable squiggly animated beauty made her far, far above him. He would have to be content to only be her friend, for not only was he not good enough for her, but if he were to confess his feelings she would probably hate him forever and ever and ever. Better to spend a lifetime of agony in her presence than to confess his feelings and lose her friendship. But this hurt him so much.
"GREETINGS FRIEND!!!"
To be continued . . .