Chapter 8
Homeless Bum
Random quote: "Today we're going to learn about trigonometric functions, like sine, cosine, and tangent." (math teacher)
"Tangent...wait, isn't that a fruit?" (random kid in my math class)
A/N: Yeah, it's been three months since my last chapter...so what? Yeah, I'll be better about that in the future. Hopefully. Also, just in case you were wondering, I started this three months ago, then forgot about it and began writing chapter 9. I was about to post it when I realized what I'd done. I'm a moron. So sorry if this sucks, but it's really only here as a segway between chapters, and not a very good one at that. Anway, let's pick this up again.
Also: still beta-testing chapter titles.
Anyway, on with the show!
As per usual, your recap:
On his way out, Robin stage-whispered something to Lana. "Beast Boy's room hasn't been cleaned in two years."
Judging by the socks on the floor, Lana honestly couldn't tell whether Robin was serious, but she never got a chance to ask.
"WHAT! Dude, that is so not true! I cleaned it last week! Or...or maybe two weeks ago, but still recently!"
Robin winked at Lana as he passed her. Typical Beast Boy. At least he was talking to Robin again.
There was a pause.
"Um..." Lana didn't know what to say. "It's...er...nice," she finished awkwardly.
Beast Boy snorted. "Nice try. Do you want top or bottom?" he asked, indicating the bunk bed.
Lana eyed the sheet situation. The blanket on the top appeared to be upside down, sideways, wrinkled, and hanging halfway off the bed. The bottom was untouched.
"I'll take bottom." She tossed her bookbag onto the bed, then hesitated before joining the others in the kitchen. "Um...could I ask you something?"
"I guess."
"Do you and Robin always butt heads like that?" Lana didn't mention that the butthead part was mainly coming from Beast Boy.
He paused. "No, not usually." He sat down on the bed, avoiding eye contact. Lana joined him. "Usually Cyborg and I are the competitive ones, at least with each other. Robin's too mature for that. But even with Cyborg, we never have serious arguments."
Beast Boy wasn't sure why, but something about Lana made him feel like telling her everything.
"I thought you and Cyborg seemed very close," she agreed. "He's your best friend, and you love each other like brothers, though you're both too macho to admit it?" she guessed.
"Yeah, something like that." Beast Boy smiled. "Well, I guess we should join the others."
"Wait. I don't mean to pry, but I think you should apologize to Robin."
"For what? It takes two people to fight, you know."
"I know. But his pride gets in the way. He'll never back down first, but if you extend the peace, even if you don't want to, he'll be gracious enough to return the favor, stubborn as he is. Then you guys can both forget this argument."
Beast Boy looked at Lana strangely. "How do you know more about Robin's personality than I do?"
She smiled. "I'm an empath, according to Robin and Raven. I can tell these things."
He nodded knowlingly, actually having no idea what she was talking about.
"That's all I'll say. I'm done prying into your emotions. Well, for today anyway."
Beast Boy suddenly searched his mind for anything he might not want Lana to discover.
After dinner, Beast Boy took Lana's advice. She was right about Robin's reaction. Beast Boy could be just as stubborn as Robin and normally would have held a grudge lasting weeks, but Lana seemed to know what she was doing. She was so kind, and Beast Boy felt a strong attachment to her already.
In the days that followed, she even replaced Cyborg as Beast Boy's best friend. She was just as good as Cyborg at video games (which meant that she could kick Beast Boy's butt easily), and made a valiant effort at pizza-eating contests (though she was always the runner-up). But the thing that Beast Boy liked most about Lana was that she was easy to talk to. Sure, Cyborg was incredibly sensitive, especially for a robot, but there was something distinctly awkward about having a man-to-man talk about anything other than sports (which BB didn't do but Cyborg had mastered) or video games (which he played enough of with both Cyborg and Lana).
In fact, all of the Titans came to reguard Lana as a permanent addition to the tower. They had all accepted her, but she still did not consider Titans Tower her home. In fact, she didn't feel as if she had a home at all.
A/N: Ok, so I feel that this chapter was slightly better than the last ones for the following reasons:
1. There is actually character interaction.
2. Yeah, nothing actually happened, but there was still some important character development. I think the genre is actually coming in to play in a few chapters.
3. The title barely makes sense.
4. It was short.
Yeah, I promise chapter 9 will be longer. I can safely promise that, cause I've already written chapter 9. I just have to edit it now so it makes sense with this chapter. Oy, I hope I never have the urge to write out of sequence on purpose.
Just stick with me a little longer, I promise chapter 9 is better.