Disclaimer: Teen Titans is not of my creations nor do I own them. They are created by the people of DC Comics and whoever got the copyrights to the cartoon show. So don't sue me. Otherwise, ENJOY!
(A/N: Story will take place after the episode "Betrothed" and the chapters will be models after several episodes, except for key points will be changed. I let you figure out where…)
"Blah, Blah, Blah" Dialogue
'Blah, Blah, Blah' Thoughts
Teen Titans: Blood of the Night
Chapter 2: Second Night of Obsession
In the early morning of the next day, the rays of the sun pierce the clouds of night and begin to open the door of attention to the normal people of Jump City. Early morning joggers are seen in around the city park, either by themselves, in groups, or with their dogs. Half of the businesses are beginning to open for a full day of sales, return, food, and the likes, while the night clubs are closing down for the day only to reopen around sunset. People are leaving their place of residences to hop on the morning train to get to their jobs on time, some in Jump City, some in Steel City (where the Titans East currently resides), and some are taken the trip to Gotham City to get to work on time there. However, like the chapter before this, the focus of the today's chapter is not on the city itself (although it will be soon), but on the T Tower, where the current Teen Titans resides. Its 10 stories building reflect the morning rays off its windows, giving the tower an angelic glow.
Inside the tower, however, is anything but angelic. The main common room, where the kitchen, main CPU computer and TV reside is a mess fit for a pig. Empty coke cans and empty bags of chips are all over the place. The kitchen is a mess, with tire-like marks running around the inland counter (courtesy of Cyborg and Beast Boy). In short, it looks like hell's kitchen (If you played Deux Ex, you know what I'm talking about). In the middle of it all, sleeping in all sorts of positions, are members of the Teen Titans and Titans East, following an all night party where food, games, and short demonstration of Beast Boy's speed and agility against Cyborg's frying pan. The mess was somewhat organized, but still the Titans and the Titans East cared less of it, giving that they are all in their own dream world. However, not all the members of the Titans are present in the main room, as Robin, Raven, and Starfire are in their respective rooms, leaving the dream world and getting ready to enter the realm of the living.
Robin was the first one to wake, or to say is already wide awake as he did not need that much sleep to begin with, thanks to a deep mediation technique taught by Batman that allows the person to have the same amount of energy and stamina in 3 hours than the traditional 8 hours of sleep offers. His room has no windows for light to shine through; a single light bulb as the only source of light. His walls are covered in newspaper clippings of their previous encounters with various criminals, ranging from Plasmus to Cinderblock, H.I.V.E to Trident, and other honorable mentions. However, none of that compares to the north wall (the wall facing the door leading out to the hallway) which is covered with clippings of all sorts of Slade, the master criminal. Pictures after pictures, new clippings after new clippings of Slade, how he did it, why, where. As Robin got out of his mediating position to get an early start and started for the bathroom, he stopped momentarily at one of his work desk. Part of gizmos and gadgets are spewed all over the desk. Some of his birdarangs are laying in pieces, either being fixed or being upgraded. The one thing that got his attention, however, was a half-mask of Slade's
Slade. Even the name is something he always thinks about, even more was the person itself. He saw his untimely demise at the hands weeks ago by Terra, but in his guts somewhere, he knows that he's alive, somewhere.
'Give it to a double-crosser to kill her boss. Who would have thought?' He picks up the Slade's mask.
'Starfire, Raven and BB keep saying I should not obsess over him any more. That he won't come back. It's not that easy. It's not that simple. One can not forget something like that…'
'Ahh, but it is. All you have to do is get rid of all stuff that is Slade.' His conscience said.
'Can't. What if he comes back?'
'In the mortal words that are Beast Boy, "ARE YOU CRAZY! SLADE TOOK A NOSE DIVE INTO A POOL OF LAVA. IT'S HARD NOT TO LIVE THROUGH THAT!"'
'Can't'
'Cant' or won't?'
'…'
'Never mind, can't change you mind. Don't listen to your good old conscience.'
'…'
'What we need is a change of attention. What about girls? Or more precisely, the girls here in the tower?'
'What about them?'
'Man, you need to loosen up. Starfire is certainly one to do so. She can get you to relax, and if I know her well, in more ways that one. She can give you shoulder massage or a …'
'Shut it!'
'C'mon. You're a guy. She's a girl. A girl that wears a tight uniform that shows her tight, smooth stomach and…'
'I said SHUT IT!'
"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU GAY!'
'NO! IF I AM, YOU WOULDN"T BE TALKING ABOUT GIRLS!'
Oh…right, I forget, how silly of me.'
'…'
'So back to the girls.'
'What about them, pray tell?'
'How about Raven. You like the quiet type, right? Dark, mysterious, beautiful. All the things in you are in her. She can get you to relax, in the dark, or not?'
'…………...'
'Ho-ho. Looks like I hit the jackpot. You like Raven to help you relax, right?'
'I SAID SHUT IT! I GOT THINGS TO DO AND I HAVE NO TIME TO TALK TO MYSELF! I'M NOT INSANE!'
'Nope, you're talking to me…'
'SHUT IT!'
'Jeez, no need to get to get your panties in a crunch.' Then there was silence. Exhaling his held breath, he heads to his closet to get a uniform and heads to his bathroom. Unlike the other rooms, his and Raven's has a built in bathroom right next to their bedrooms, where the other members must share a bathroom on the lower levels. Robin strip out of his old uniform, threw it in the hamper, and stop in front of his mirror and looks at himself. Tone and tanned, his skin show little flaw, except for the many scars that riddles his body. He was very well-built for his age, but then again, one does not train with Batman and train hard here in the tower to gain some fat and slab.
'Need to do something about this tattoo. Wouldn't do to have somebody to catch me half-naked with this tattoo. Got to pay back Bruce for this. The one time to crack a joke and he takes me to a tattoo parlor and stamp a tattoo on me while I'm asleep.' After a quick shower and quickly getting dress in his uniform, he head to the elevator and heads down to the kitchen to get something to eat. As soon he got there, however he regrets it.
'Great, I forgot. This place looks like a pig's stand. I guess I should clean it up first but first…' Robin walk over to the TV area where the other members are sleeping, took out two delayed flash bang, set one for 15 seconds and the other for 20 seconds, laid both down, activate his anti-flash screen in his mask ('Got to thank Batman for this'), and waited.
'Let's see…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…Now!' As soon as he thought 'Now', the first flash bang went off, waking everybody up. Then the second one went off, blinding and deafening everybody in the room (except for Robin) for several seconds more. Mumbling, cursing, swearing, and things intangible are heard. As soon as everybody has regain sight and hearing, they all look over to Robin and his patented cocky smile.
"MAN DUDE, WHAT WAS ALL THAT ABOUT!" Beast Boy yelled, trying to gain his hearing back.
"Yeah, man, why did you set those off?" Cyborg asked after getting his human eye to open. "It's only…" Quick look to the clock, "6 AM IN THE MORNING!"
"I think I'm going to grow deaf today. What's the deal, Robin?" Speedy asked, one finger in his right ear.
"Don't know," Robin said, walking towards the bloom closet, "Guess I felt the need to wake everybody up and help me clean this mess up." He started to pull out blooms, mops, vacuum cleaners, and cleaning materials.
"Uh…Robin? You do realize we're not part of tour team, right?" Aqualad said, while slowly stepping to the main door.
"Yes, I know, but it would really help if you stayed."
"Sorry dude, but we need to head back to the East Tower and clean up our mess we left there." Aqualad said while dragging a thrashing Speedy. Bumblebee followed closed behind, dragging a still asleep Mas y Menos.
"Later Robin, Later Sparky, love to stay and help, but like Aqua said, we got our own mess to clean up."
"Okay, see you later…" Robin stopped mid-sentence and grabbed both Cyborg and Beast Boy by their collars as they tried to follow the Titans East out the main door, "and where do you think you two are going? You two are going to help me clean up the common room."
"Ah mannn…Can it wait until after breakfast?"
"No Beast Boy," Robin said while handing him a dustpan and bloom, "Besides, can you cook in a kitchen where every space is littered with trash and gods-knows-what. Besides, I'm not letting you two," Robin hands Cyborg a vacuum cleaner, "in the kitchen after what you two did." Robin pointed to the tire-like marks circling the island counter. Beast Boy and Cyborg has sweatdrops (anime-style) on them.
"Well, what about Raven and Star? How come they're not cleaning?" BB complained.
"Well, 1) they are not awake yet, 2) Raven wasn't at the party to begin with, and 3) Starfire did a little cleaning last night so they deserved some sleep." Robin pushes both BB and Cyborg towards the living room.
"You two will start on the living room and I will get the kitchen, and before you ask," Robin interrupted Cyborg and Beast Boy, "I will cook today. After what happened last night, we probably don't have any food left." With that, Robin started on the kitchen.
"Well, at least it's Robin that's cooking, not Beast Boy."
"Hey! What's wrong with my cooking?"
"Nothing, but the tofu you always cook is nasty, gross, and nobody want to eat it."
"It's the only thing I can cook. I'm a veggie."
"Exactly. Your tofu cooking stinks."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah!" From that point, it was a cat and mouse argument/chase, as Cyborg tries to clobber Beast Boy with the vacuum cleaner.
Meanwhile, Starfire was waking up from her dreams about mustard, Silkie (her pet worm), and Robin. She sat there for several minutes, staring aimlessly around the room, trying to wake up. Her room was pink to the core. Everywhere she looks, it was pink, from her bed to her walls and everything in-between. She then gets out of bed, heads toward her closet to pick out her uniform for today. Although her nightgown is nice to wear today, it leaves little imagination as it was almost see-through, and although she wants Robin to see her in it, she believes it was not time yet for that. At the thought of Robin, her face became flush as it reminded her of her dream she just had.
'Oh…today is a glorious day. The sun is shining, earth birds are singing, and I get to spend the day with my beloved Robin today.' As cleaning was boring to most, it was not to Starfire because it meant more time with Robin.
'Maybe after the cleaning of the room, maybe we can go to the place of sticky floors, popped corn, and flavored candies and watch the big screen.'
'What if he can't? You know he has been working all the time.' Her conciseness said.
'I know, but he needs to relax. It is not to his health to find out Slade is doing. He is dead and won't be becoming back. Besides, every time I think of Slade…' She shudders and wraps her arms around herself. She does not want to remember the times where Robin was Red X, how he was lethal in his techniques, his knowledge of the team's weaknesses. She does not want to remember when Robin was Slade's apprentices, where he was ruthless and deadly, no emotions whatsoever.
'Every time Robin thinks about Slade, he gets that look where a Sputnik is in its heat.'
'Then get his attention away from him. Although the nightgown will do the trick,' Starfire blushed, 'You want to do it subtlety. Just go with your uniform and use a little perfume to get his attention. Help him out anyway possible.'
'Yes, I should do that. My beloved Robin will be pleased I'm spending time with him.'
'…'
'…'
'Well, why are you standing there! Get to it then, girl'
'I will and I shall!'
"Then get going, or do you want Raven to get there first?'
'What do you mean by Raven?' Starfire asked while her eyes glows bright green for a brief second.
'You know what I'm talking about. Raven and Robin are spending some time together, more than often what it is needed.'
'Friend Raven and my beloved Robin are my friends. They have the right to talk to each other.'
'Ah, but do you get the feeling that are doing more than talking?'
'…'
'Like cuddling up, going out, hugging, anything ring a bell?'
'…'
'You see, if you don't hurry, she might steal him away from you'
'Yes, I shall get to Robin and be with him and not let him got.'
'Yes, that's the spirit. So get going!'
'Oh…right.' With enough said, she grabbed her cleanest uniform, her best perfume she brought back from Tamerna, and spend off to the bathroom to get herself ready for Robin.
At the same time, Raven was waking up from her sleep, except she was not dreaming, because if she did, her emotions will take advantage of it and try to interfere with the dream sequence (although what the emotions will do will be beyond her). She quickly gets out of bed, stretched out a bit to get her body working again before she heads down to the common room to help Robin clean up. In the midst of it all, one of her emotions decides to pick up where they left off last night.
'So…wanna talk about your feelings about Robin again. We haven' finished our discussion.' Happy whispered.
'What do you mean?'
'Well, you know your feelings about Robin?' Raven blushed. 'You can't deny your feelings for him.'
'I can and I will. There is nothing between us. He is my leader and I'm his teammate. We don't have anything further than that.'
'Are you sure about that?' Intelligence said in a teacher-like way, 'There are sufficient evidences that show that you and Robin are in a relationship that goes beyond platonic.'
'Prove it then.'
'The time where you and Robin went to the theaters, the time on the rooftop last night, the time where Beast Boy rented that video, and on and on and on.'
'Those times are when I had nothing else better to do.' Raven countered.
'C'mon Raven,' Bravery said, butting into the conversion, 'don't tell us that you are scared of a little love?'
'I'm not because there is no love between us.' Raven said while blushing, 'I'm just content with being with him.'
'I'm very disappointed with you, Raven,' Anger said quietly, something she never done before, 'I for one can see that, although you are angry to Beast Boy for his lame attempts of flirting and interrupting your time and mediations, I don't see you doing the same when Robin is near.'
'He…just respect my privacy. He knows how volatile I am when I get angry. He gives me space and make the others back off. He's…nice…but only because he's our leader. I'm sure he would do the same to Starfire, Beast Boy, or Cyborg.'
'I don't think so,' Happy counter, 'Robin never go near Beast Boy and Cyborg because those two are always chatting away. As for Starfire, she can be seen floating near Robin all the time, regardless of Robin's gentle objection.'
'Speaking of Starfire,' Intelligence said, 'she should be waking up by now. If I know her, she would be trying to get Robin to do something with him. You heard last night, hinting at something.'
'Why are you dissing Starfire all of the sudden? She hasn't done anything you...I mean me.' Raven said.
'She's trying to steal our man. C'mon, let's get going and try to fool him into a date. Beside you might enjoy it.' Brave cheered. Before Raven can counter though, a quiet whisper broke the conversation.
'Uh…we should get down for breakfast. It's 8:00am and Robin will hate us if we're late.' Timid whispered.
'Ah shit!' Raven ran to her bathroom, took a quick shower, got dressed, and went down to the common room before her emotions can add to Timid's statement.
By the time Starfire and Raven came down to the kitchen, Cyborg and Beast Boy has finished with the cleaning the living room, the kitchen is spotless and free of junk, and Robin is now cooking breakfast. Although it saddens them that they didn't help him, both Starfire and Raven are glad that they didn't have to clean up the mess because one didn't cause the mess and the other help clean up last night. As soon the boys returned the brooms and vacuum cleaners, both sped straight to the counter to get ready for breakfast. Since Robin never cook because of the bickering of Cyborg and Beast Boy, all that are present are a little curious to what he makes. Raven took a look at the stove and saw her kettle out and being boiled with her tea, since the box of herbal tea is out as well.
'Well, that was unexpected. He never made tea before.' Raven thought.
"Breakfast is ready, guys." Robin said, interrupting Raven's train of thought. "Since everybody here has different tastes, I made something different for the each of you." He then passed out a dish of food to each member.
To Cyborg, a plate filled with sausage, bacon, ham, and eggs was his entrée.
To Beast Boy, spring rolls with rice, rice noodles, lettuce, and green onions are on his plate. A bowl of peanut sauce was also present.
To Starfire, a bowl of her home world's cooking was present, complemented with a bottle of mustard.
To Raven, a bowl of rice and Chinese BBQ pork. Steamed vegetables are kept on a separate dish and a cup of her herbal tea was passed to her.
"Robin, are you going to eat something?" Starfire asked. Robin pulled his plate from behind him. A dish that consist of something from the other dishes. He then being to eat in silence while BB and Cyborg were engaged in a lively conversion.
"As soon as everybody done," Robin said, "Rest up a bit and we will get to training."
"Ah man, why? Nothing has happened in the last five days and no criminals have shown up on radar." Beast Boy complained.
"Robin, BB is right. Why train if nothing going to happened?" Cyborg asked.
"Because, we must be ready for anything, anytime, anywhere." Robin said while get up to put away his plate. Starfire did the same and Raven look up a bit from her meal to spy on both of them. She saw Starfire putting her dish in the dishwasher then flew off to Robin's side. She saw Starfire grabbing Robin's arm, preventing him to leave the common room. She saw Starfire whispering something to Robin. She saw Robin saying something back to Starfire. She saw Starfire get more urgent and whispered something else to Robin. She then saw Robin nodding and whispers an acknowledgement to Starfire, to which jump up and down in glee, then flew out of the room. All this and a single thought ran through her head.
'Why do I feel jealous of them?'
Later on that night, Robin and Starfire are getting back from their date. First they went to the theaters to watch a new movie that just came out: a romance/drama type movie. Throughout the movie, Starfire was clinging onto Robin's arm so much that Robin felt that arm broke in several places, but never voice his concern if make it make Starfire happy. Then they went to a fancy restaurant, recommended by Alfred, which would have went pretty well, if several drunken guys didn't try to hit on Starfire, which he dispersed of them quickly. Afterward, he took her to his vantage point to watch the night sky, which went pretty well, for Starfire.
"That was wonderful, Robin," said Starfire, as she and Robin got off the R-Cycle, "Thank you so much."
"It was nothing. I hope the night wasn't bad for you." Robin said.
"No, it wasn't. It was...nice…" Starfire blushed. "Thanks again."
"No problem," Robin yawned, "Listen, it's getting late, and we didn't get much done today due to some unexpected issues. Flashbacks to the trainings earlier where Beast Boy thought it was funny to tickle Cyborg while he was lifting 1000 tons weights, resulting in breaking the machine. Cyborg then decide to chase Beast Boy again, resulting Raven breaking concentration of her powers, allowing the metal poles that was floating to be sent towards Robin's way and…Robin did not want to think about and he shook his head. Starfire look at him in confusion.
"Are you alright, Robin?"
"Yes, Starfire. I'm fine."
"Can we do something tomorrow? I like to go to the place of many stores and get some things." Starfire blushed, while still holding on to Robin's arm.
"Maybe, we have a lot to do tomorrow, starting with training. Raven and I will…"
"What about friend Raven?" Starfire's eyes glowed a bright green.
'Whoh…what was all that about?' Robin was taken back at the sudden change in emotions. "I just thought that Raven needs to learn how to fight in hand-to-hand combat if her powers were to stop working. That's all."
"Oh…sorry, Robin. I just thought…"
"That's okay, Starfire. Anyway, let get going, we got a long day tomorrow." Robin and Starfire walk to the elevator and went to the floor where Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy's rooms are. After saying goodnight to Starfire and convincing her to let go of him, he heads to the kitchen to get a little snack before heading back to his room. What he saw took him by surprise. Raven was sitting on the couch, asleep. Her book was laid open in her lap and her cup of tea was on the table. Why she was there was lost to him, so he decided to take a quick peek at the book she was reading.
'Edger Allen Poe? Typical for her to read this.' He then looks at Raven's face. Peaceful was the word to describe the look she has now. He never told anybody, but every time he is near Raven, he feels content and peaceful. This new feeling was foreign to him, so very different from his feelings for Starfire.
'What is this feeling I get when I'm near you, Raven? What is this feeling I get every time I see you. What is this feeling I feel when you talk to me.' Robin shook his head.
'Damn conscience. Shut up.' Looking down on Raven, he suddenly decided to not let her sleep there on the couch. He gently lifts Raven up off the couch, carrying her to the elevator. Up they went and in no time in all (and not waking Raven up), he made it to Raven's bed. He laid her down, look at her for a couple more seconds, then leaves to head to bed himself. If he has stayed a minute more, he would have heard Raven whispered something.
"Thank you for letting me dream. Thank you for tonight."
Finally, my second chapter done. Hope you guys like it. Write to me for comments and complains. Third chapter to be up soon.
I also like to thank the reviewers who helped me with the emotions question from the last chapter. I decided to use the following emotions:
Timid: Grey
Happy: LightPink
Intelligence (I know Knowledge is commonly used, but I think this fits more): Yellow
Brave: Dark green
Mischief: Lilac
Anger (I decided to use Anger instead of Rage because Rage is a deviant from Anger at a more extreme level): Dark Red
Love (Something new): Light Red
I plan to use a different trait on the chapters to come (Obsession, Pain, Love, etc.). Here are the titles (working in progress).
Chpt 1: First Night of Content
Chpt 2: Second Night of Obsession
Chpt 3: Third Night of Pain
Chpt 4: Fourth Night of Friendship
Chpt 5: Fifth Night of Birth
More to come…
