I do not own Teen Titans.
Chapter 2: Robin's Idea
Raven's View
The living room in Titans tower was more silent than usual. Of course, it was seven in the morning on a Sunday, so that could be the reason for it. Beast Boy and Cyborg were still asleep, and would be for hours, so their video gaming wouldn't take place until the afternoon at least. Starfire was fast asleep as well. Robin would no doubt be researching Slade. However, Raven was wide awake, sitting alone on the couch and staring into space.
'I really need to get a life' Raven thought to herself. She tapped one finger onto the couch repeatedly, her pace quickening as she became more bored. Looking outside, it was a nice day. 'Perhaps I should go outside' She suggested. No, that wouldn't do. It was far too bright to be out there. Raven hated the sun. It was one of the reasons that she always wore a hood. Suddenly, the tea kettle whistled, and Raven got up to go and get some.
"Mm, herbal tea," Raven mumbled thirstily to herself. She poured the steaming hot liquid into a small cup, sniffing in the delicious smell of her tea. Without waiting for it to cool, Raven lifted it to her lips. It didn't hurt at all, so Raven gulped it all down, then went back to the couch to resume her boredom. 'Well, that took up about thirty seconds' She thought sadly. Really, she needed a life, and soon.
"I didn't expect anyone else to be out here," A tired voice behind her said. Raven new the voice all to well. Robin had finally taken a break from trying to get some leads on Slade. She turned her head.
"I'm always up this early," Raven told him. Really, Robin should know by now that she was the only Titan who actually stayed out here in the morning. At this time, she could usually be alone. But not today, apparently.
"I know you are, but usually it's a little later than seven a.m. Couldn't sleep?" Robin asked, causing Raven to have a nagging feeling that she had slept all too well. Without waiting for an answer, Robin walked over, then sat next to her on the couch.
"I did sleep…" Raven muttered. Robin looked over and began to watch her, and something about his face gave her the feeling that he wanted to say something. "Yes?" She added curiously. Robin smiled.
"I just wanted to tell you something, Raven. You see, I've always felt that you and I have had a bond, and recently, I started to think about that bond. Raven, I think I like you," Robin told her. Raven's heart froze for a second. Surely her ears were deceiving her…
"As in… more than a friend?" Raven asked hopefully. Robin nodded in reply, and she turned to face him.
"I think that I always have, but it's just now become a big issue with me. So I was wondering, do you like me too?" Robin blurted out. Raven nodded her head.
"I do, and I have for a while now," She confessed. Robin scooted closer to her, until they were only an inch apart. Raven's heart sped up, and she suddenly found her lips near Robin's. "Robin…" She breathed, then closed her eyes. And…
Nothing. No kiss, no anything. Raven's eyes suddenly snapped open, and she shot up. The area was dark, and for a second she feared that she was blind. But she came to her senses when she reached over. Feeling a lamp, Raven hit a button, and a bright light shone across the room. She was still in bed.
"A dream," She mumbled. 'But it seemed so real…' She realized. That's one thing that Raven hated about her dreams. They were always so damn real. For a moment, Raven had forgotten, but then the dream all came rushing back to her. "What the hell was that about?" She asked herself out loud. Raven had had a dream about Robin… A dream where they liked one another, and were about to kiss. How odd was that? Raven shook the dream out of her mind, and then climbed out of bed.
Using her powers, Raven levitated her cloak off of a hook on the wall, and put it on. She reached under her bed, pulling off her boots and slipping them over her cold bare feet. She stood up, stretched her arms, and began to walk. Then she noticed the mess.
'Oh yeah' She suddenly remembered. Raven's room was in shambles. Books were scattered about, her desk overturned, and several other items lying around. The events of the previous night had been erased from her memory, but they all came back as she stared around her room.
"This is why I hate crying," Raven said to herself. Though she had gained better control of her emotions in the past months, the last few weeks she had found herself feeling extensive periods of anger and sadness. Her short crying sessions usually left a hug mess like this, which means that she would be spending the next few hours cleaning. Sighing, Raven chanted her magical words, then began to clean up her room.
Robin's View
Still pacing his room at early morning, Robin began to feel a bit tired. After Raven's little outburst, he was little a little energized. For a moment, he thought she was going to seriously hurt Beast Boy. She thankfully did not. After an awkwardly quiet, the team spend a couple more quiet hours together before they each one by one departed to their rooms. Robin stayed up to watch the film 'Face Off' with Cyborg, and then went to his room to get some research done.
Plopping himself down in his hard wooden chair, Robin sat upright and began to flip through the file on Slade. It was a good twelve inches thick, and he knew it by heart, but Robin didn't think it would hurt to reread it. Starting on when he first got to Jump City, the Boy Wonder quietly read out loud to himself.
"Despite the fact that Cinderblock is the one who freed Plasmus from the prison, both Cyborg and I agree on the theory that there is a mastermind behind the jail break, and Raven also thinks that is a distinct possibility. There may be a new villain arising, but I am sure that we can…" Robin slowly trailed off, his thoughts falling off of Slade and onto Raven as he kept glancing back at her name. Lately, she had been on his mind.
A loud crash made Robin jump out of his seat, the chair scraping against the hard floor and toppling over. He instinctively grabbed his bo staff and rushed to the door. Surely no one was attacking the tower. Robin opened his door and stealthily slipped into the dimly lit hallway. The noise came from the direction of Raven's room. He started along the corridor.
Another noise, quieter this time, sounded off. He was sure of it now. The noise didn't come from around Raven's room, it came from inside of it. Robin gulped. He knew that she was an early bird, but that didn't mean that she was always in a good mood in the morning. Still, he had to check on her, just to make sure that she was alright. Cautiously, Robin knocked lightly on her door. It slid open ever so slightly.
"What is it?" Raven asked. Robin looked down at her, and Raven suddenly blushed. She stepped back into the darkness that was her bedroom, but returned quickly with her hood up.
"I heard a couple of loud noises from in there, and I was wondering what they were," Robin said. He tried to see inside, but the room was shrouded in darkness. Raven looked back into it.
"I'm rearranging some stuff around, sorry for the noise," She quickly said, then began to slide the door shut. Robin tilted his bo staff forward, so that it was in the way off the door shutting.
"We need to talk, Raven," He told her firmly. Raven turned around, and began to walk away from the door.
"No, we don't," She muttered sadly. Robin's bo staff became engulfed in black energy, and it was shoved back as the door slid shut. Robin was left standing in front of the door alone.
"Stubborn…" Robin said, then smiled. If there was anyone that could compare with Robin's own stubbornness, it would have to be Raven. With that thought, Robin reluctantly turned away from her door, still wishing that he could somehow make her feel happy.
As he reached his own room once again, a question entered Robin's mind. Who said that he couldn't make Raven happy? She was never a very happy person. The only time that he had seen her happy for a long amount of time was when Malchior was around, or when everyone treated her well. Maybe, just maybe, he could think of a way to make Raven feel good.
Robin took a sheet of paper, and began to write ideas down. Really, making somebody happy shouldn't be this complicated, but Raven was different. She was a lot different than everyone else. Her emotions functioned differently, her opinions were odd, and there were plenty of other things that made her more complex than anyone else. But that didn't mean that he couldn't help her. He had to, she was his friend…
000
Robin's door slid opened a few hours later, and he stepped into the hallway with a sigh. It had taken some time, but Robin felt as if he had a few ideas that could really make Raven feel happy, or at least not depressed. After figuring that out, he restudied the file on Slade. Feeling hungry, Robin decided that he could go for some food.
"Are those soy waffles?" Beast Boy's questioning voice asked from the kitchen.
"Of course they're not soy waffles, I don't even like soy!" Cyborg's loud reply came quickly. Robin smirked, then walked into the kitchen, where his friends sat at the kitchen table, arguing over food.
"Titans, calm down!" Robin yelled. Beast Boy and Cyborg took no notice to Robin, the two of them still bickering over waffles. Starfire looked up at the sound of Robin's voice. "Titans!" Robin raised his voice, causing Cyborg and Beast Boy to stop fighting. The two gave one last glare at each other, then turned to face Robin.
"Yeah, Robin, what is it?" Cyborg grumbled. He clearly wasn't in the mood for anything unless it involved eating. Nevertheless, Robin carried on with what he had to tell them.
"I'm sure that you've all noticed how on edge Raven ahs been acting lately so-" Robin stopped talking as Beast Boy raised his hand. "Yes?" An agitated Robin asked.
"She's always on edge. Yesterday, alls I did was accidentally spill something on her book, and she freaked out on me! C'mon, she's the one who caused it all anyways!" Beast Boy exclaimed.
"I do not believe that would have happened if you did not try and force her to play your game," Starfire calmly said, which gained an annoyed look from Beast Boy.
"It's not like I was trying to kill her. I just wanted to play my game with somebody new!" The changeling argued.
"That's enough, Beast Boy. My point is, Raven hasn't been acting herself lately. I know that she's never been the nicest person, but she's being even more cruel and distant than usual. The other night, I even offered to rent her a horror movie, and she snapped at me. You can't tell me that you all haven't noticed this sudden change, right?" Robin said. Cyborg nodded his head.
"Actually, I kinda see what you mean. She hasn't even been in the mood to do her favorite things. Something's up with her," He said.
"Exactly what I'm trying to tell you. And I was thinking… she is our friend, and we should try and make her feel better," Robin said.
"What do you have in mind, Robin?" Starfire asked.
"I was thinking… we should all take a shot at making Raven feel better," Robin suggested.
"You mean, like… taking her to one of those creepy poetry readings that she likes?" Beast Boy asked hopefully. Robin smiled, and shook his head.
"No. Actually, I was thinking of something a little more meaningful. I'm willing, and I hope you all are, to spend some time with her alone. If I'm thinking right, she would appreciate it if we all showed that we cared for her. Yelling at her after ruining her favorite book isn't exactly making Raven feel any happier," Robin said, finishing with a smile. His little speech was greeted by silence from Cyborg and Beast Boy. Starfire stood up, gleefully smiling.
"That is a glorious idea! I can take her to the mall, or we could get our hair done, or!" Starfire's outburst was cut off by Beast Boy's sudden, even louder, outburst.
"Are you insane? She doesn't even like me! What makes you think that she would be willing to spend time alone with me? And what are we supposed to do with her?" Beast Boy shot off his questions. Robin shrugged.
"Do whatever you think she would enjoy. Like I said, I think that she'll really appreciate that we actually show interest in her life," Robin said.
"Or… we might annoy her to the point where she kills us," Cyborg grumbled, crossing his arms.
"It can't hurt to try. You guys want her to be happy, don't you?" Robin asked. He smiled on the inside, cause that line would cause some guilty feelings, and no doubt push Beast Boy and Cyborg into a more helpful mood.
"Well, I guess," Beast Boy said. He shrugged, taking a few gulps of soy milk. Robin walked away from the table without a word, and Cyborg got up to follow.
"Yo, Robin!" Cyborg whispered urgently. The Boy Wonder gave a 'hmmm' to acknowledge he was listening. "Where did all of this come from?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked suspiciously. It sounded as if Cyborg had something on his mind.
"I know Raven is our friend and all, but she's always gotten better before when she was sad. Why help her now?" Cyborg asked.
"She's my friend, and a good one at that. She's tried to help me before, and now I want to help her," Robin answered simply.
"Okay," Cyborg said in defeat. He began to walk away, but turned back. "You sure ya don't like her though?" Cyborg said in a teasing voice.
"What would give you that idea? She's my friend, and she deserves to be happy. This has nothing to do without I feel about her," Robin answered defensively. "And I don't like her," Robin added quickly.
"Sure," Cyborg said, snickering as he walked away.
"I don't!" Robin called after him. For a moment he wondered what gave Cyborg that idea. It was crazy, really. He, Robin, like her, Raven? No. This was simply an act of friendship, nothing more. There was no way he liked Raven, right? 'Right!' His mind reassured him. Robin flipped over onto the couch, then began to flip through the channels casually, now wondering about his feelings.
I felt that this was a much better chapter than the previous one, but you all be the judge. Less boring, in my opinion, and it's getting the plot started. I'm hoping to get at least half the amount of reviews that I got on the first chapter, so review please. If you wish to criticize the story some more about such things as a Titan being out of character, be my guest. Do try and give some pointers though, won't you? Anyways, I'm done for now. Hope you enjoyed.
Next Chapter: Starfire takes her shot at making Raven feel better, and Robin decides to follow them around. What will Starfire do? And why is Robin following them?
"I'm a lot closer than you think…"
SinFire
