Customary Truce
First TT fic in a long time. Hope you recognize me. Kind of angsty...
Rated PG13 – All of my fanfics are PG13, because I like to swear and make a lot of intimate statements. Not so bad here, but it's standard and required of me.
Disclaimer: Nothing.
Customary Truce
It may be expected that the Titans always got along, as the upholders of peace and justice and all holy goodness. The beautiful and naïve Starfire was the symbol for childish innocence; for untouched sympathy and ever-enduring patience and compassion. Her baby-like face and adoring green eyes were plastered on posters, reminding the citizens of Jump City to be aware of their follies and crude suspicions, for there was someone out there with unconditional affection and trust contradicting their every wrong with her sweet and incomparable honesty.
Beast Boy the green and unprejudiced was the symbol for humor and justness. He would do no one wrong, not even the animals, for he felt for their pain and suffering. He brightened the sky when he woke in the morning, and kept a glow even at night. His strength and swiftness was unparalleled and yet he did not place himself on a pedestal – he only wished to please and amuse. He reached out and touched the hearts of those around him, gifting them with good spirit and understanding.
Cyborg the strong and silver was the symbol for support and stamina. Though his heart and mind was made of metal, he was the warmest citizen ever to be seen. No matter the crisis, he could be lent upon and trusted not to let go, even if death dragged one by the feet. His unwavering courage and automatic smarts were endearing and spherical, never-ending. When people glanced at themselves, their reflections shining in a store window, they thought of Cyborg, and considered a way to prefect their assistance of others.
Raven the lovely and wry was the gaping wound of the world, a harsh reminder of the way evil seeps into the everyday workings of society. Though she was enchanting, she was dangerous, like evil itself, which at first seems so innocent and lovely to touch, but in truth is like a barb to bite you, to inject its poison into your veins and take over. Raven was heaven and she was hell – a perfect person to watch by standard, but never to touch, never to feel, for she would maim as quickly as she would hand out her mercy. In remembrance of her solemn presence, less people became weary of life and sought to end it. Less people shut out the world, for they did not wish to become a horrible wound like the gorgeous but deadly Raven.
Robin is last, the bold and brave leader of the godly Titans. Out of all the heroes of Jump City he was the most memorable, the most pure, the most important. He bore the mark of the broken shackles of second-class treatment, of abuse, of haunting pasts, of a new birth. He was trusting and sincere, yet strong enough to hold up an entire team with a single fist. He was quick with a weapon as well as his thoughts and tongue. He was noble and true; nothing he did could be counted against him. He was friendly and warm, willing to hold a child to his breast should they be in need, willing to throw himself before a car to save an old woman, willing to cut his wrist millions of times over to be certain pain was ended somewhere for someone, be it nobody or somebody. He could be trusted. The world held him high and proud.
It was terribly clear, however, that single rainy night inside the Titan Tower, that these ideals were far from reality.
Storm waters were grey and frothy, slamming against the shores and tossing the boats like toys. Clouds hung low and angry, pressing against the windows to gaze at the helpless families inside. Rain brutally whipped those foolish enough to leave their homes and flooded the streets, churning them up into menacing rivers. Sitting tall and proud even against the storm was the Titan Tower, erect on its secretive island, and the main hall light glowed bright like a beacon of hope.
The rest of the Tower was cast in shadow.
Inside the main hall, where the light glowed bright, sat the team, spaced out as teenagers might, their backs to each other as they set about their own tasks. Cyborg, the large fellow, was hunched over a tiny desk, tinkering tirelessly with his mechanical arm. Apparently a rock had wedged itself firmly inside a groove and was jamming a system, but refused to come out, even with the force of a screwdriver.
Raven, placid and silent as a godly sentinel, stared impassively out the window. Her body was lost inside her thick, dark robes, and she seemed to melt, a single violet rod, against the landscape. She seemed to be able to taste the salty, cold ocean waters on her lips as she closed her eyes and allowed her upper torso to tilt forward as if to embrace the storm.
Beast Boy sat with his back against the end of the couch, reading a magazine that lay on the floor between his spread legs. In one hand he held a bottle, and in the other he held a cake. He pressed his lips to both at random intervals, flipping the page of his magazine with a toe whenever he finished. A pile of read and unread magazines lay beside him, for once neatly separated and sorted by date. He was lost in his world of reading and looked up not once.
Starfire lay suggestively on the table, her arms outstretched to dangle off of the edge of the platform. One leg lay flat on the table, and her toe pointed straight at the window, while the other was bent, forcing her skirt to ride up and tangle around her waist. Starfire, being as she was, was unaware of her vulgar situation, and wouldn't have cared if she did realize. She turned her green gaze to the door and then to Robin, who was hunched over his portable computer system. His eyes were narrowed and his face was set with his determination. His mouth had been pulled into a taut, grim line.
Thunder moaned desperately in the background. Lightning flickered over the sky, lighting it up, before it faded into nothing.
The tension in the room increased. Starfire hated lightning, and Cyborg hated rain. Beast Boy could care less for thunder, and Raven loved it all. It took all of her self-restraint not to step outside and dance in the rainwater, kiss the low-hanging fog, make love to the storm. Robin was the anchor, keeping them all adrift but firmly grounded, holding them from whatever monstrous fate might await them if they turned on each other like the rabid children they were.
"If only I could taste it, for a moment," Raven murmured despite herself, pressing her nose and forehead to the glass, allowing her tongue to caress it as she spoke. "If only I could touch that power, for a split second. I would so lose my virginity to the storm." A smile curled around her features. "It would be worth it."
"You speak of childlike passions, be done with it," Robin told her, glancing up from his work to watch the back of her purple head.
"Do I wish to?" she asked softly, pressing her fingers to the glass as if to spin a web from the thick clouds. "I don't think I do. Why might I not remain?"
"It is unsafe to wish such things upon yourself," Robin said. "It brings about… emotions best left untouched."
"What if I wish to unlock it?"
"Do you wish to stroke a glowing ember?"
"Perhaps!"
"Do it, then! See if we care! Let your blood join the rain, for all we care!" Robin threw his hands up, attracting the attention of the rest of the group. Starfire sat up on the table, allowing one foot to slip down to the floor and letting a bare toe brush the linoleum. Robin clicked his teeth. "You never contribute to anything! You are harsh and negative and dispassionate. Your feelings and concepts are always twisted and hateful, and I cannot bear it!"
"You are a beast, a green beast, with yellow eyes, you spiteful, jealous thing," Raven told him. "Let me alone."
"Indeed!" Beast Boy cried.
"Hear!" bellowed Cyborg.
"We shall not fight, not on such a dreadful day," Starfire offered.
"Be silent, woman!" Raven barked. "You know nothing. Your brain is squishy fluff, filled with romantic dreams of false, juvenile grandeur!"
Starfire drew herself up to her full height without standing. "I am not!"
"You need a good screw, you. You're a clueless old hag."
"You are a cruel, hard thing! You slithered from a rock and strangled a baby to turn into a demon! That's what you are!" Starfire swung a hand in Raven's direction. The latter caught the attack and gripped the alien's wrist. They glared daggers, bleeding each other from the inside, their eyes smoldering like hellish fires.
"I hate you, you child," Raven hissed.
"I hate you, you callous witch," Starfire spat.
"Whore!"
"CREATURE!"
"Silence, the both of you, I tire of this, and it is inexcusable!" Robin barked.
"Indeed!" Beast Boy cried.
"Hear!" bellowed Cyborg.
The two had nothing better to remark upon.
Robin sighed. "We must remain with our truce, no matter what the tensions bring, or the disagreements, or the incompatibility. We must forge forward, for the sake of the world. That is what we have in common. Or can we fight for that?"
This was greeted by nothing but the roar of thunder and the hiss of pouring rain.
"Very well," breathed Raven.
"If it is for that alone," Starfire said.
"I agree," Beast Boy muttered.
"Be it done," murmured Cyborg.
"Silence," said Robin.
And there was.
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Author's Notes: I liked this one. A lot. I know it's freakishly AU and they don't talk at all normally, but I don't really care. I think it added something to it that could not have been there otherwise. Please respond, let me know how I'm doing.