Someday: Mornings with the Titans
By: Cursed Fox
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Robin/Raven Robin and Raven's little displays of affection throw the other Titans for a loop.
Disclaimer: Do disclaimers really make it less illegal? Either way, I acknowledge that I don't own the rights to the Teen Titans, and no amount of wishing could change that. This is done purely for enjoyment, and I gain no monetary profit.
Started: 14 Jan 2005
Finished: 1 Jun 2005
Timeline: There is no real timeline for this fic. It could be set before or after Terra, because I don't mention her at all. There's also no mention of any background crime fighting. I assume that, on the show, the Titans are around fourteen to fifteen years old, with some allowances for things like Cyborg's stint in as an athlete in high school and Beasty Boy's vertical difficulties. In this case, setting them at seventeen or eighteen would be better. But it makes no difference. I just find it easier to work with older characters than the ones on the show.
Dedication: To everyone who wishes for this kind of "someday."
Now that I've covered everything I'll remember to cover, please enjoy.
Things were different.
No one could really tell at first, but the nagging feeling that something was off lingered in the halls and rooms of a giant T-shaped building. While not ominous, the mystery was bugging three out of the five Titans that resided in said building.
The strangeness was revealing itself slowly. Slowly, but surely, it was also doing a number on their emotions. Cyborg certainly thought so on one morning a few weeks after the initial feeling had them on edge.
Raven was by far the earliest riser of all the Titans. In fact, it was questionable whether or not she actually slept. So, on this seemingly normal day the resident sorceress was enjoying a giant mug, her own don't-touch-or-you-die mug, of her brand of herbal tea and reading a book. She was sitting at her customary spot on the large couch using the artificial light of the room to absorb the words of her newest novel. It was barely dawn, much too early for sunlight.
In came the Boy Wonder, disheveled and unkempt even in his eye-numbing, wrinkle-free uniform. He was known for being the second earliest riser, with a habit of being a bad morning person at the same time.
Leaning against the entrance to the common room, he greeted Raven with an untranslatable grunt.
She replied with an absentminded, "Morning," and got up to leave.
Leaving the half unfinished tea in his hand, she said nothing and continued down the hall still reading that ever-present book. Robin finished swallowing the first gulp of tea in time to see Cyborg sputter.
"T-.. Rav-… You.. But… Oh my… Holy Tamaranian cupcakes on a blue moon!"
Obviously, Cyborg could only half-form and recombine sentences, standing not five feet from the dark-haired detective. The human-robot hybrid had come to find food in the adjacent kitchen after working on security upgrades all night. He wouldn't wake any earlier than when he needed to.
What he saw shocked him, plain and simple. Raven never lets anyone near her precious tea. That thought, combined with the impossibility of what happened moments ago, made him gesture wildly at Raven, Robin, the cup of tea, and back and forth between all three.
"Uh… Morning to you, too, Cyborg."
Robin gave him a look of confusion. To him, nothing was out of place other than Cyborg frantically waving at the general direction where Raven left.
"Bu-But, the tea!" Now, Cyborg pointed at the offending mug that was bigger than the size of the half-robot's fist.
"What about it?"
"What about it! I just saw you take a sip of Raven's prized herbal tea!"
"So?" He took another sip and sighed in satisfaction.
Cyborg fumed but decided that it wouldn't get him any answers.
"So, how did you happen to start sharing a mug with Raven?" He had managed to get that out without firing his cannon at the boy's head. Staying up late didn't help his temper.
"Oh. You know me, I'm practically blind, deaf, and mute before I've had my coffee. So, I came in one day and grabbed her tea off the table thinking it was my regular cup of coffee. Turns out that the tea wakes me up right away. Calming, too."
"And she didn't kill you!"
"Oh, she tried. That's why we had to remodel the kitchen. But, I got her this mug -" He raised it to show the silhouette of Raven's shadow form painted on the side. "- as a peace offering and made her a giant cup of tea. I guess we came to some kind of unspoken agreement the next morning that we would share the tea. She didn't care to finish it all in one sitting, and I didn't open my eyes in time to stop before grabbing the tea again."
"You two are weird. I used to think it was just the girl."
Robin shrugged and left the technician to his own devices before going to find breakfast.
Cyborg continued to mutter about tea and crazy birds as he scanned the fridge.
Beast Boy was proud of himself if he got out of bed before noon. Whenever he did, he always went about the tower with his usual smile on his face. This morning, all the other Titans were already in the common room. Robin was tracking the news, Starfire was given a cookbook and free reign of the kitchen, and Raven was reading. He knew by instinct that Cyborg would be playing one of their console games.
Upon closer inspection, Cyborg was losing horribly in a racing mini-game that only required holding the joystick in a forward position. He was muttering, "Again. Did it again. Shouldn't be alive," over and over again. Beast Boy joined him if only to claim victory. Cyborg had been doing this for a week, so he'd be a fool not to take advantage of it. Still, he found it odd that his friend passed up the chance to play after-dinner games in lieu of waking early to "catch a show" as Cyborg had put it.
Ah, but the green teen could sympathize with him. After all, who wouldn't want to catch a glimpse of the lovely purple-haired goddess of darkness? Come to think of it, that's what he had just called her.
"No."
"C'mon, Raven. You didn't even hear what I was gonna ask!"
She glared at him and turned back to the book.
Beast Boy eyed The Book.
Raven noticed and glared again.
The Book was telling him to do it, he could swear it. So, he did it.
What resulted was pain, too much pain. Beast Boy was lying on the ground a few feet from the couch after Raven had played pong using the floor and ceiling as paddles and his body as the ball. The book he had taken flew gently into her waiting hands, and she continued where she left off.
Boy Wonder was chuckling and Cyborg snickered, he actually snickered. He'd get him back for that one! Oh, no. Starfire was giggling, too.
Rubbing his aching backside, he observed in abject horror as Robin casually fell into a seat next to Raven and plucked The Book out of her hands.
She glared, a twitch added to it.
Robin read the title, seemed to recognize it, and proceeded to ruffle Raven's hair before relaxing into the cushions to start reading at page one.
Raven's fist glowed with power before she sighed heavily.
Robin smirked, hoping she couldn't see. She saw.
Her power faded, and another book had come to her hands.
Beast Boy was trying to regain feeling in his body. His hands had become stiff, and he tried to flex them with difficulty. His mouth suddenly felt dry, and he heard himself mutter the same words that Cyborg did not five minutes ago: "… shouldn't be alive." He glanced at Starfire, surprised he could move again, to see a pained expression on her innocent face.
Beast Boy promptly turned into a kitten and jumped into Starfire's arms. The alien girl was fleeing to her room, and by then he was seeking the comfort from her petting as much as she was. They had left a room where their respective crushes were reading together, Robin having forgotten to remove his arm and continuing to play with Raven's hair idly. Beast Boy's, and probably Starfire's, only comfort was that the two didn't seem to notice this irksome new closeness.
So, this was what it felt like to have your heart broken.
"You know, this is very unprofessional."
"Oh, please. If it wasn't for me, you would probably be cuddled up against Starfire."
"Mmmm. Like the imagery."
A swift punch to the shoulder told Robin that he had managed to say that last thought out loud. As a side note, Raven had a fair amount of strength, too.
"Um. Sorry?" he asked sheepishly. "Teenage guy here. All your fault, really."
"Eh, fantasize all you want. I'll just have to turn my attentions elsewhere." She made to turn around and get up, but the Boy Wonder wasn't having any of it. He pulled her right back into their hug and settled her next to him on the pillow.
He nuzzled the side of her neck and placed a gentle kiss there before speaking, "Starfire's good for fantasies, but I've always preferred to be realistic." He smirked. "Gets you fewer injuries that way."
"Right." This time, she smacked the back of his head. "Try again."
"Beautiful Dark Goddess of the Night, I humbly beg your forgiveness. I was truly blind, for your grace and allure are unmatched by any in the known, and unknown, galaxies of all the universes."
"Even in that weird alternate dimension of the Star Trek universe?"
"Well, if it exists--… How did you know I liked Star Trek?" He gave her an accusing look.
"'To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before.' Doesn't that sound just like a curious little Robin?" She had a smug look to her, and he was reminded of how much he both hated and loved this girl.
"Maybe love is too strong a word," came Robin's whisper.
Raven was quiet, and Robin noticed the sudden lack of playfulness in the situation.
"Too strong for now." Her voice was steady and soft.
"For now." His voice was soft, too.
"Took you long enough, though." Ah, that playful tone was back. And there was a radiant smile on her face.
"You weren't any better!" He retorted. Then, he returned the smile. "By the way, I meant what I said. You really are beautiful. So beautiful."
She blushed. "Not so bad yourself. But the brains, maybe not so much."
He chuckled. "I'm never gonna win with you. And can you believe it? What a weird month. Figures that it took an actual kiss to make me notice."
"I have to admit that I didn't notice until last night either." She had a wry, we-should-be-smarter-than-this kind of smile.
Robin shook his head at the thought. "I really should've caught on when Cyborg made such a big deal about the tea. And then Beast Boy and Starfire got distant for a good week because we were reading together. But we've always read together."
"Hmph. Don't know what possessed me to share with you." She started out with a glare that faded into a small quirk of the lips, almost a smile. "Now, I'm kinda glad I did. But, you didn't have to ruffle my hair." She glared at him again.
"Couldn't help it. You were too cute! Stop that glaring! You are so gonna be the death of me." He felt like smiling forever in that moment. Raven really could be too cute sometimes. "But in all seriousness, I didn't get to be the Boy Wonder by being slow on the uptake. Starfire is a scary matchmaker, and we were so very oblivious."
"I think part of her thought we made a – dare I say it – cute couple, even if she wanted my boy-toy for herself."
"Boy-toy!"
"I'll have you know that you are a high-quality, Grade A piece of meat." She was beaming at him, had to be. But did Raven ever beam?
"Such an abusive relationship. I don't think this is gonna be healthy for me." Robin had such a look of despair. One would say he felt heartbroken. Of course, that was a lie.
After a brief pause, "I don't know. After all, 'sharing is caring.' And we share everything from food to my bed."
Both blushed at the last statement.
Robin spoke first. "Never would have expected to hear that phrase from you. But I never expect a lot of things that happen with you. Last night--…"
"--was a good preview of things to come." They blushed again. "But I'll take that step when I'm ready." Raven looked deeply into his eyes then, his mask wasn't necessary in the safety of her room. "Someday, I promise you, I'll be ready." She wanted to convey so much, but words really could not express everything.
Robin picked up where she left off, "Someday, I'll tell you I love you. Someday after that, we'll take that next step. And someday, I'll marry you and start a family. And we'll live 'Happily Ever After.'" They shared smiles then. Staring longingly into those violet eyes of hers, Robin could see himself accomplishing his greatest goals in life.
Raven sniffed. "Someday, definitely." Then it was back to business, "Now, good little birds should run along and get to fighting crime." She got up from the bed with no resistance as the leader of the Titans put his mask on and walked to the door.
With a final kiss and a lingering gaze, they went their separate ways to change into their uniforms.
Things were different.
No one could really tell at first, but the feeling that something had clicked into place pervaded the halls and rooms of a giant T-shaped building. It was definitely not ominous, and the mystery feeling from before was solved weeks ago. Two out of the five Titans that resided in said building were deliriously happy, and the other three Titans were okay with that.
The strangeness of a newfound relationship was never really there, for Robin and Raven anyway. Slowly, but surely, their "somedays" would come.
For now, every window in the Tower had to be replaced.
The End
Author's Notes:
For those of you who might wonder, the last scene was another morning two weeks after the scene with the book. They did not sleep together. I felt that was implied, but I had to clarify. The part where Beast Boy transforms into a kitten, I have to admit, was inspired by another writer's idea to do the same. I believe it might have been Birds of a Feather, most likely found in my Favorites listing. The reference to Star Trek: The Original Series' episode about parallel universes is from an old memory of an episode I've only seen once, where Kirk gets involved in a trans-dimensional transporter accident.
This was my first fic, and I'm surprised I'm actually posting something. But I worked on this for a while (most of that time – about 4 months – was taken up by school), and I would like some feedback. Please don't flame because of the couple, though I'm sure some of you will. They will largely be ignored, however, because I'm a die-hard Robin/Raven fan.