1: Reaction
The end of the world came and went rather quietly, with the exclusion of the "end" part. Life went on as usual; pizza was eaten, malls were shopped in, and people lived on without the slightest idea that the world had almost ended. The public masses were frozen as stone at then time, and one can't see much with stone eyes.
The Teen Titans kept the whole fiasco quiet. They felt it was better that the population of the Earth didn't go into mass hysteria after the almost end of the world.
That, and the girl who both let it happen and stopped it was rather fond of her reclusive privacy.
Raven stirred her tea absentmindedly and watched Cyborg and Beast Boy play a particularly violent videogame involving crashing, explosions and general debauchery on the giant TV screen. She then wondered why she was watching them play the damn thing in the first place.
2 months had passed since Trigon had been vanquished. Life returned to the norm; wake up, drink tea, beat up villains, go home, meditate, go to bed, wash, rinse, repeat.
"Fine with me." She said to no one, and sipped her tea.
"What's fine with you?"
Robin turned the corner into the kitchen and peeked inside the refrigerator, only to close it dejectedly. "Tofu." He grimaced with distaste. Raven hid a smile behind her teacup.
"Good mood this morning?" he asked before he started to rummage through a cupboard, tossing aside numerous tofu by-products.
"What makes you say that?" she tried to make her voice sound innocent.
"Because," he grinned at her from behind the cupboard door. "You never used to smile-aHA!"
He emerged with an armful of cans and cartons, piling them on the counter as Raven watched silently. He sorted through them, setting aside decent or edible stuff from the rest.
"What's-eww."
"What?"
Robin held out a can for her to see. The label read "Brains" and had a picture of brains being served with scrambled eggs on a large platter.
Raven almost choked on her tea.
"The hell-?"
Robin gave her a concurring grin and stuck out his tongue in disgust. Raven smiled again and Robin felt a fluttering sensation in his chest.
'What 'choo doing with my brains?" Cyborg demanded, striding up to the counter and snatched the can out of Robin's hand.
"Why do we have canned brains in the Tower?" he asked
"Why is there such a thing as canned brains?" Raven inquired the more obvious question.
"Because," Cyborg explained "I have a bet."
The mechanized human looked furtively down at the green changeling that appeared at his elbow, who took one look at the can, whimpered, and sunk down out of sight.
"Oh yes," Cyborg continued, waving the can around. "Which states that if I ever eat that tofu he's so crazy about, BB has to eat a can of pig brains." Both Robin and Raven made noises of disgust. Beast Boy muttered unintelligibly from under the counter.
"So the next time he bugs me about tofu, I'm gonna eat it, so he has to eat this." Cyborg waved the can under the counter at Beast Boy, who squealed in horror and scrambled from the kitchen and down the hall.
Robin and Cyborg burst out laughing, but stopped abruptly when they realized Raven was caught in a fit of giggles as well.
Since the defeat of Trigon, nobody, not even Raven, knew how it would effect her powers; though she seemed to have been making an effort in trying to be more social, and she had loosened up a little, and she even smiled now and then (to Robin's elation). A dry or humorless chuckle was the closest she'd ever gotten to laughing.
But she was…giggling.
She subsided, wiping at her eyes.
"Make sure I'm around when you make good on that bet." She told him. Her grin vanished at the sight of their astonished faces.
"What?" she demanded, no trace of humor in her voice.
"You….giggled." he pointed almost accusingly at her. "You never giggle."
An uncharacteristic blush of the deepest crimson spread across her cheeks. Her eyes narrowed, looking accusingly at Robin as if daring him to laugh at her too. He didn't.
Starfire chose that exact moment to float in, arms in the air, smile wide and eyes bright. "Good day, my friends!" she cried "I heard laughter, and am curious as to what it was about!" She hovered for a moment and realized they weren't laughing any more.
"But why have you stopped?" the pretty alien inquired, looking to each of them in turn.
"Raven giggled." Cyborg blurted out like he was tattling before Robin could stop him. Raven slumped a little, getting angrier by the second. Starfire blinked, and then said quite seriously, "Is the world ending again?"
A streak of black energy cut through a chunk of the counter then tore a few doors off the cabinet, and Raven stalked out of the room, swirling her cloak around the corner. Her bedroom door slammed closed from far off.
"What did you have to do that for?" Robin raged at his two remaining teammates. "She wasn't doing anything wrong!"
"But Robin," Starfire pleaded "I did not mean to hurt friend Raven's feelings! I was merely checking, as the only time Raven had acted cheerfully was when the world was going to end!"
Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask and stalked around the kitchen. He slammed a cupboard door shut, making Starfire flinch. Rubbing his brow, he gestured to them pleadingly. "Just give her a break, alright? She's really trying…" he trailed off.
"We are sorry, Robin." Starfire murmured humbly. "Raven has been different since she defeated the Trigon."
"You're right, man. She gets enough grief from BB." Cyborg said. Robin nodded appreciatively at them. His eyes met with the unedible food piled on the counter.
"Thanks guys. Now let's make a grocery run. But, lets not take Beast Boy."