Chapter 3. Suntan lotion and Sandcastles
The Titans arrived at the beach, most of them pleasantly chatting. They all found spots close by to each other to set their towels down except for Raven, who preferred to keep her space.
Cyborg was close to Beast Boy, who was, not surprisingly, beside Terra's spot. Robin and Starfire also laid their towels beside each other, with no complaint being made there.
Cyborg sniffed the air. "Ya know, this actually ain't so bad. Kinda glad I changed my mind. Just smell that sea air!" BB looked at his large cybernetic friend and smiled. "Yeah! It's cool that Terra came up with the idea for us to come here!" He then turned to the blonde, who was slightly embarrassed at Beast Boy's praise. "Aww, it was nothing, really. I just thought we should have some fun to keep our minds off the heat for once."
Robin took the bottle of suntan lotion and applied it to his skin, in order to give himself less of a pallor, Spending a lot of time away by himself hadn't done much for his skin tone. After he was done, he heard a soft, sweet voice beside him. "Robin? Would you wish to apply the lotion of tanning to my back?"
This made the young hero almost completely lose his composure. Starfire laid beside him on her stomach, and he found it exrtremely difficult to respond. "Uh, um..y..yeah, sure Star..." The alien princess let out a happy sigh. "Thank you, Robin. This will be most helpful." Robin squeezed the bottle a little harder than he should have, causing a huge dollop to ooze onto Starfire's back. She squeaked at the relative coldness of the substance, but made a contented noise when she felt the masked leader's hands spreading it all over her.
He never showed it, but he enjoyed performing this duty for her immensely. "There you go, Star. That better?" She expressed her approval. "Yes, Robin. You have been most helpful!" If he could've seen, he would have noticed that she was blushing as she said this. Just then, Beast Boy ran up and grabbed the lotion out of Robin's hand. "Thanks, dude!"
Beast Boy approached Raven and she noticed his arrival by seeing a shadow being cast upon her book. "Go away, Beast Boy." The shapeshifter wasn't about to just leave her alone, however. "Come on, Raven. Don't'cha want me to put some lotion on you?"
The gloomy Titan lifted her eyes from her book and spoke in a calm manner, but with an undercurrent of menace. "Get any of that on me, and you'll need professional help to remove the bottle from your butt." Beast Boy gave a sheepish little laugh and slowly backed away from the irritated half demon girl.
Terra then grabbed his arm. "Hey, BB! Bet I can make a better sandcastle than you!" The green boy gave a sound of slight exasperation. "Dude, of course you can! You can control the sand into any shape you want!"
Terra brushed some hair from her eyes and laughed slightly. "Oh, yeah I can, can't I? But, it doesn't mean you shouldn't try to beat me." She gave him that look, as if to say "I dare you". That look always made him feel a bit light inside. "You're on!"
They sat in the sand and began building their masterpieces. Whereas beast Boy's attempt could best be described as a lopsided mess, Terra had crafted a fine work of beach art, thanks to her earth manipulating abilities.
Beast Boy was amazed at Terra's sandcastle. "Wow, that is so cool. It's a lot better than mine…" He stared at his sad little attempt, but Terra put her hand on his shoulder for comfort. "Aw, it's ok, BB. I think it's a little messy, but I like it." He smiled at her and blushed a little. "Thanks, Terra."
Beast Boy then felt a rush of sand in his face, as his sandcastle was destroyed . At first, he thought that Terra's powers had gone out of control, but that wasn't the case at all. "Hey! Dude, you just messed with the wrong shapeshifter!"