A/N: Alrighty, my second chapter of Man With The Moped, HOORAY! In this chap. Beast Boy, with the unusual help of Raven Roth, manages to find a descent job, HORRAY! Ok, i'll stop now. R&R!
Ch. 2
Getting Hired
It had been almost two hours already and Beast Boy was stilling lying on the couch, thinking hard for a way to make one thousand seven-hundred and ninety nine dollars, plus tax, for that moped. As he sat upside down on the sofa, his mind wandered and he thought of things he had done in the past to try and make some cash.
Flashback…
"Aw, come on now baby," Beast Boy begged, slowly rocking the crying little infant in his arms back and forth, "just…dude!...come on, sleep already!" But the baby only cried harder, tears and snot rolling down his chubby face.
"Dude, this is so not worth five dollars an hour," Beast Boy muttered to himself, "but at least he hasn't…"
Suddenly, a foul smell filled his nostrils, and he gagged loudly. "Oh man! It smells like…" he stopped rocking the baby and examined his diaper closely. "Dude, I am definitely not changing your smelly…ugh, man it reeks."
The baby, now realizing what he had done, screamed louder than ever before and began struggling against Beast boy's grip; he needed to have a diaper change badly.
"Ohhh man," the green changeling muttered in disgust, "…I guess I have no other choice…" He took the baby into his room, and set him down on the changing station. Then slowly and hesitantly, Beast Boy reached for the diaper and grasped it. He winced and said, "Ok…here goes." He quickly closed his eyes and peeled open the diaper. Cautiously, he opened one eye, and fainted right there on the spot. But just as he thought it couldn't get any worse, the bulging diaper rolled off the changing station and landed right square on Beast Boy's head with a 'plop'. A second later, the silence of the quiet suburban neighborhood was shattered by a high-pitched shriek of horror.
End Flashback
Beast Boy grimaced when he thought about that job.
"That's the last time I ever go babysitting," he thought to himself, shuttering. As he continued thinking, the kitchen doors opened and Raven came in, now holding an empty mug. Beast Boy flipped off the couch and said, "Rae, I need your help."
Washing her cup, she glanced at him and replied, "If it involves playing video games or hamsters, then no."
Beast Boy paused for a second, and then said, "Dude, that's an awesome idea! Hamsters playing video games!"
Raven groaned and slapped her forehead. "But that's not what I was thinking," Beast Boy added quickly, "I need to find a way to make money, but I'm out of ideas."
"That's a surprise," Raven said flatly, tossing her cup in the dishwasher, "so why not just get a job?"
"What!" Beast boy cried, "Do you not remember what happened the last time I got a decent paying job! The world almost got blown up by alien tofu!"
"And you stopped them from doing that by getting that job, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Beast boy muttered thoughtfully, "I guess I did."
Raven rolled her eyes and started to leave.
"Wait Raven!" he called, running after her, "what kind of job should I get?"
She stopped, her back facing him, and sighed quietly.
"I don't know, try being a …checkout boy or something like that."
"Nah," Beast Boy said, waving his hands in front of him, "tried it."
Flashback…
Beast Boy stood in front of the check-out line, dressed in a store uniform, waiting idly for a customer to buy their groceries in his not-so-busy line. The cash register guy, a man name Ted, was also standing behind the counter, absentmindedly scratching his rear- end. After a few agonizingly boring minutes Ted turned to strike up a conversation with the new bag boy, saw Beast Boy and gasped. "Dude! Y-you-you're…green man!"
"Dude, I know!" Beast Boy snapped, his face turning ugly, "are you blind or something-" he glance at his name tag "-TED!"
As Beast Boy continued yelling at Ted for his stupidity, an old lady slowly made her way up their line. Beast Boy noticed her and said, "Sweet! A customer!" Ted turned his head as the elderly woman set a couple of groceries on the black conveyer belt (I have no clue what that thing is called) and they were moved to Ted automatically. He smiled lopsidedly at her and began to scan her merchandise.
"The total's seventeen dollars and ninety-five cents ma'am," he said politely.
The old lady smiled back at him and handed Ted a fifty dollar bill. "Keep the change, sonny," the woman said, "I'm sure your hard work should be better rewarded!"
Ted beamed at her once again and placed the bill in the cash register, then taking out the change and pocketing it. Beast Boy glared at Ted even more fiercely, until the groceries were rolled to him. Seeing his chance, Beast Boy quickly bagged all the merchandise and hurried over to the lady with them.
"Here you go, ma'am!" he said rather loudly, grinning widely, "Please do shop here again!"
The old lady beamed as she took her bags, and reached into her purse for more money.
"Bingo!" Beast Boy thought to himself, rubbing his hands together eagerly.
"Why you're such a sweet boy too," the old lady said, pulling out a twenty dollar bill, "and now here you…" She stopped when she saw Beast Boy up close for the first time.
"Say sonny you don't look so well, you look a tad…green?"
And then she gasped, realizing that he really was green, and began to scream.
"Aww man, not again."
"Get away from me!" The old lady shrieked, bashing Beast Boy across the head with her purse.
"Ow…that hurts! Take it easy lady! OWW!"
End Flashback
Raven chuckled; yes, she actually chuckled, as Beast Boy finished his story.
"Wow, no wonder you have so much trouble with jobs," she said sarcastically, smirking and folding her arms.
"Ra-ven!" Beast Boy cried exasperatedly, his eyes getting big and sad, "pleeeeeeeease help me?"
She sighed once again, unfolded her arms and walked over to the refrigerator. "Why would I know anything about jobs anyway?" she said, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a fruit cup, then closed the door.
As Beast Boy responded to her, Raven's mind zoned out and she paid absolutely no attention to his babble. She walked into the living room and took a seat on the sofa; Beast Boy did the same. Then, as she plucked a strawberry from the cup and ate it, her wandering eyes caught something; today's paper lying on the coffee table in front of her, neatly folded. That puzzled Raven, because she couldn't remember the last time she had seen a newspaper in Titan's Tower. Nobody except Robin ever read one. Then, the idea struck her like a ton of bricks.
"Beast Boy," she said slowly, turning to face him, "you're good at throwing, right?"
"Yup," he said modestly, flexing his arms, "they may be skinny, but these arms can lift just about anything!"
A blueberry bounced off of Beast Boy's forehead, and Raven smiled at her own throwing abilities.
"Hey!" Beast Boy gripped, picking up the blueberry off the ground.
"Now that I have your attention again," the dark girl said, "I had an idea; why not be a paperboy?"
Beast Boy stared at her for the longest time, thinking hard.
"I'll do it!" he yelled finally, jumping off the couch. "It's probably the easiest job out there! Nice idea Rae!"
She merely shrugged at him and ate a slice of kiwi. As he started to leave Beast Boy remember the blueberry in his hand and started to pop it in his mouth, but then he had a better idea.
"Hey Raven," he called sly; she looked up at him, "CATCH!" And he tossed the blueberry straight at her.
Unfortunately, Beast Boy really wasn't good at throwing small objects, and the berry landed straight in between Raven's breasts.
A few seconds later, Beast Boy came crashing through the living room windows and plunged down towards the ground below, a black aurora surrounding him so that he couldn't transform into an animal and land safely. He continually screamed until Raven heard the 'thud!' of him crashing into the ground, and then she resumed eating calmly, a slight smirk on her face. Suddenly the other titans ran into the living room, looking alert.
"We heard a scream," Robin said quickly, "what happened?"
"Yo! Why's the window broken?" Cyborg asked, "What the heck were you and B doing?"
"Nothing really," Raven stated calmly, "Beast Boy went out to get a job."
"A job?" Cyborg said, scratching his head, "why would B.B. get a …"
He paused, and all three titans said "ohhh" simultaneous.
"The moped," Starfire said, nodding, "our dear friend has fallen in love with her! What a joyous day this will be!"
"Fallen is right," Raven said, smirking to herself.
Meanwhile, poor Beast Boy was still laying face first on the ground outside, groaning. "Dude, that hurt!" He muttered to himself, sitting up slowly and rubbing his head, "Raven's so…" He stopped, scratching his head and trying to remember what he was going to say. After a fewseconds Beast Boy shrugged and gave up on his lost memory.
"Oh yeah!" He said suddenly to himself, "the job! For the moped!" And with that he transformed into a seagull and flew off towards Jump City. As he flew past several of the first skyscrapers, Beast Boy wondered where to start.
Becoming a paperboy wouldn't be easy.
When all the others had left, Raven sat alone in the living room, holding her now empty cup and thinking.
"That was awfully mean of you to throw him out the window," her least favorite emotion, Kindness, said softly in her head.
Raven shrugged and thought, "So what? He'll live."
"But you care for him far more than that," Love, her newest and most awkward emotion, stated in a seductive voice, "isn't that right Raven?"
"Don't be daft," Raven thought, the voice in her head growing slightly louder, "I …don't love Beast Boy…that's ridiculous."
"Mmm hmm," all the emotions said simultaneously.
"But we're exactly the opposite kind of person!" Raven stated, trying to deny the truth she already knew.
"You know the famous saying," Love said, sounding pleased with herself, "'Opposites attract.'"
"Aww, isn't that so cute?" the playful voice of Happy said, giggling. "Beast Boy loves her too!"
"He THREW a blueberry in my CLEVAGE!" Raven yelled to her emotions, starting to become fed-up.
"So he's a bit naughty," Love said with a smile, shrugging, "you don't think that was an accident, do you?"
"I think I've had enough," Raven stated blandly, and she withdrew from her thoughts.
She walked up to her room and began to meditate, but somewhere in the back of her mind she was still thinking about him.
Back in Jump City...
"You wanna be a WHAT?" The man yelled, leaning across his desk to get a better look at Beast Boy.
The green changeling shrunk back in his uncomfortable wooden chair and replied in a quivering voice: "A pa-paper boy?"
The portly man, the name plaque said John Newsier, leaned back into his chair and slapped his desk, chuckling.
"Well, I guess I could use one of them," he said slowly, rubbing his fat chin, "the going rate's ten dollars per stack delivered for a boy like you."
"Alright," Beast Boy said eagerly, standing up, "so when can I start?"
John whipped out a large stack of paper, slapped them on the desk, and said with a big grin, "Right now."
Yeah, that was a good chapter for me. So what's next for Beast Boy and Raven? Well, find out in the next exciting installment of... The Man With The Moped! But until then please review.
