Here I am with a speedy second chapter! As this story is dedicated to my buddy, I'm not going to pressure people to review or even look for a certain amount…not that I don't love reviews, I do. Thanks to everyone who reviewed; stay with me here, it might seem a little weird for me…will probably take more of the pathway of All In The Game than stuff like Aftereffects. Mostly I'm just going to have fun with it, I hope you do too!
Chapter 2: December
Raven woke up slowly the next morning, half surprised but mostly grateful. She was all too accustomed to waking up to the frantic wailing of the alarm and knowing that she had no choice but to get up and get up fast. The peace of waking up when she wanted to was…nice.
That's not to say she didn't get up early. The alarm clock blinked 6:30 as she crawled out of bed and pulled on her boots and cloak.
The kitchen was empty as she flicked on the fluorescent lights. Last night's dishes were spread across the counter; obviously, Beast Boy had neglected his chore day once again. Raven smiled a little as she imagined the look on Robin's face when he saw the mess. Watching the Boy Wonder blow his top was one of the few things she found humorous, on a very short list with Happy Bunny.
Ignoring the sauce-encrusted counter, Raven rinsed her kettle and set the water on the stove. Since a watched pot will never boil, she opted to do some meditation in the living room, a beautiful sunrise bursting in through the huge window.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos…Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"
Her mind floated peacefully, neither happy nor sad, not thinking and yet not absent of thought either. The ticking of the clock echoed in the void and the sound of a radio drifted through the tower; the other Titans would be getting up soon.
As she did every morning, Raven did a mental check up on her friend's well being. Starfire was brushing her long red hair and anticipating a trip to the mall for…hairclips? Raven mentally shrugged, moving on to the next unexpecting mind. Cyborg was broadcasting a blank where brain activity was concerned, although she could distinguish breathing and a heartbeat. Thought didn't occur while he was, literally, "plugged in". Beast Boy was either still asleep, or he had somehow managed to get Jessica Simpson onto his nonexistent moped. Now for fearless leader…
Raven frowned slightly, scanning the evidence and workout rooms in quick succession, followed by the areas outside of the tower. No Robin. Odd…he usually didn't leave the tower this early in the morning unless there was an emergency.
The shrill whistling of the kettle woke her from the trance, though she avoided a bonk on the butt by remaining airborne. She touched down gently, poured out the water and set the tea bag in to steep. Robin was probably doing the grocery shopping while he had a spare minute. Heaven knows they needed food.
"Friend Raven! I have a proffessation for you!"
Great, the empath thought as she turned to face Starfire head-on, I get to go shopping for hair accessories.
She could hardly contain her enthusiasm.
Their good fortune in not being called away to fight crime could only last so long. Ironically, Raven had plenty of time to get a manicure and shop for hair care products, but not enough to allow for her morning meditation. Fate is cruel.
She was just glad that Star hadn't asked her to go Christmas shopping…but she assumed it was only a matter of time before the alien asked why multicolored trees had started growing in living rooms.
According to the Titans' scanner, someone was attempting to rob the Starbucks on Mainstreet. Raven smirked, fighting back a derisive laugh. Starbucks that weren't on Mainstreet were always packed to bursting. She could only imagine how full this one would be. Poor fool.
Deciding not to waste effort by flying, all the Titans piled into the T-car as Cyborg guided them toward the bridge. Raven looked at the half-robot in interest as he reached for the volume knob…
I said, give me two pairsI need two pairs
So I can keep on stompin' in my air force ones
Stompin' in my air force ones!
Beast Boy sang along squeakily while Star merely giggled and bounced in her seat. Robin wasn't pleased, however.
He stretched forward from his position in the back seat and tapped the Tin Man on his metal shoulder. When Cyborg inclined his head cheerfully, Robin yelled (so as to be heard over the teeth-rattling bass), "Turn it off!"
"Sure, little bro. Tell ya what, as soon as you get your driver's license and I die and go to Robot Heaven, you can decide what gets played in the T-car."
"TURN IT OFF, CYBORG!" Robin yelled, face turning bright red. Raven thought for a second she saw steam pouring from his ears and nostrils. She stifled a giggle, looking out the window to avoid being caught.
To the empath's surprise—and Robin's too, if his face was any indication—Cyborg gave in. "Ok, ok, I'm turning it off," he said, slowly and clearly. His one human eye winked inconspicuously at Raven as he reached for the skip button…
I bet you want my bodyBet you thought about it
Bet you were hot-and-bothered
Because I talk about it—
Raven craned her neck purely to see the look on Robin's face. It was worth her while.
"Gee, nice going, Boy Blunder," she quipped, smirking at his blushing face.
Throwing a glare in her direction, he sank back into his seat and crossed his arms—pouting, she supposed. Turning to Cyborg, grinning triumphantly, Raven indulged in a thumbs-up and a small smile. They had something of a contest going, who could drive Robin nuts first. Looked like Cyborg was in the lead.
The robbery was certainly more…interesting than she expected it to be. For one thing, it wasn't a robbery at all; just a desperate attempt on their autographs from some unstable fans. Two females, going by "Bree" and "Di", had accosted them and demanded that the entire team sign their arms with sharpies. They then attempted to engage Robin in conversation, but, since he was officially ticked off about the rap issue, he had nearly shoved their sharpies down their throats and yelled that he would arrest them if they didn't stop bothering people.
Unperturbed, they merely smiled and waved as they headed off in the direction of Borders…that is, until they were apprehended by a severely miffed police officer. Robin waved back, laughing somewhat maliciously.
Raven just shook her head sadly, choosing to escape the team now before anyone could suggest a "victory" pizza.
Wandering down Maintreet was not the funnest thing to do at this time of year. With only a week left until the biggest holiday (and the biggest rip off) of the year, the people had decided it was finally time to start the mad scramble for gifts. People pushed and shoved past each other, shouting about this sale and that discount. Raven found it all, in a word…digusting. The fact that an actually day had to be appointed to get people to think about their loved ones was pathetic enough, without adding the fact that they did so by rushing to grab everything in their reach off the shelves of the nearest Wal-Mart. People like that didn't even know the meaning of the word love.
"You're one to lecture on the proper communication of emotions," commented Sarcasm, laughing mockingly.
"Shut up, because you're one of them," Raven retorted, squashing the rebellious Emotion back into her subconscious. She pulled up her hood as yet another icy rainstorm came on.
"If it's going to be cold and wet anyway, it might as well just snow," she thought bitterly, digging her hands deep into the warm pockets of her cloak. Wishful thinking. Snow was almost unheard of in Jump City.
After getting a coffee at her usual haunt, Raven felt slightly more optimistic about the whole situation—life, that is. Coffee could usually do that for her.When she had finishedwandering through the neighborhood and critiquing Christmas displays (overdone; plastic; painful to the eyes; and one or two not bads) she came to rest staring up at a huge Media Play. Music, books, movies, and novelty gifts all under one huge and fluorescently lit roof.
Raven sighed, approaching with caution. The new Enya CD had been out for weeks, and she'd been hoping to get it before the radio had managed to overplay all the songs. Sadly, Media Play was the only store that didn't ask for her first-born child as payment, other than Wal-Mart of course. She didn't fancy facing that crowd, so she slipped through the automatic doors and into the brightly lit warehouse.
It wasn't too difficult to find a deserted corner. Surprisingly enough, the music section was the least crowded.
"Good, I won't be stuck in here for hours after all." Raven made her way to the E section, scanning through various artists, most of which she had never heard of.
The opening notes of a mournful song drifted across the loud speakers, sounding vaguely familiar to the empath, though she couldn't quite place it… Her head jerked up in surprise as a voice joined in, sounding as though it was singing an inch from her ear.
"This is my December, this is my snow covered hole. This is my December, this is me alone…"
Raven's violet eyes widened in surprise as she at last found him. Directly across from her, perusing titles on the other side of the CD display, was a boy with dark hair that fell forward on his forehead, almost hiding his downcast eyes…
Unaware of her gaze for the moment, he continued his sideways walk down the aisle, singing softly, almost subconsciously… "And I'd give it all away, just to have somewhere to go to. Give it all away, to have someone to come home to..." He broke off, then looked up.
Rats. She was caught…again. Deciding it would be pointless to feign innocence at this point, Raven muttered an acceptable greeting. "Hi."
His blue eyes studied her face. "Hi," he said, voice cautious.
Great. Now that she'd started a conversation, she couldn't exactly grab her CD and leave. Searching for something else to say in hopes of getting that weird stare to loosen up a bit, Raven raised her eyes to the ceiling, indicating the hidden speakers. "Linkin Park, right?"
The barest hint of red crept into his cheeks; Raven realized too late that she had drawn attention to his singing. She didn't blame him for feeling embarrassed…she knew how annoying it was to be interrupted while in a meditative state, andhe obviously had been.
"Yeah," he replied, gaze still burning holes in her face as though he was calculating the angle of her nose or the distance between her eyes. Raven wasn't sure how much longer she was going to tolerate it, either. "Do you listen to them?" he asked, voice neutral.
Raven shrugged, glancing down at her Enya CD. "Not really. I've heard a few." Honestly, some were good, but she wasn't sure how she felt about the way the lead singer would bust out screeching and screaming for no apparent reason. She found it to be emotionally disturbing and even capable of breaking her balance and control.
"Right," he muttered, his head disappearing behind the top row of CDs, then popping back up again. "So I guess you like Evanescence and that kind of thing, right?"
Forgetting that she had been the one to initiate the conversation, Raven became uneasy with his questions. Why should she give away personal information to a stranger? "I like a lot of things," she droned, using her "ice queen" tone, as Beast Boy liked to call it. "…And you are?" she asked, voice supremely bored and uninterested.
He smiled sheepishly, though she got the feeling that a teasing smirk was hiding underneath. "The guy you caught singing to himself, remember?"
Raven struggled to maintain her frigid indifference…but it was hard. When he smiled, his eyes sort-of… Stopping herself before she could finish the treacherous thought, Raven cleared her throat. "Alright then, Guy-I-Caught-Singing-To-Himself, it's been interesting." "Freak," she muttered in a not-so-undertone as she made her way hastily towards the front of the store.
"Bye then, Raven."
He didn't shout, but the message was loud enough to be easily heard over the noise of panicked shoppers and obnoxious music. It took all of her self control to keep from freezing in her tracks… He used her name, and she didn't know if she liked it or hated it—probably a little of both. It wasn't surprising that he knew it; she wasn't difficult to spot. Maybe it was the fact that civilians rarely (if ever) so much as spoke to her, much less carried on a conversation. She got the impression they were almost as afraid of her as they were of the villains she fought. Sometimes she resented it, but most of the time she just felt relieved. Not so with this character.
"I'll never see him again after this. What does any of it matter?"
Raven answered herself with ease, as she finally started to shake off that unsettled feeling.
"It doesn't."
So there is chapter 2…hopefully chapter 3 will be up before Christmas, but I just don't know. Things have been insane for me this week…that's what I get for leaving my shopping so late. Ok, credit to Nelly for Air Force Ones, Ciara (I think) for Goodies, and Linkin Park for My December. Credit to Mystyre for the sharpie idea. It is quite late where I am –yawns- so I think I'll turn in without further ado. A new chap of Catalyst is a possibility for the near future... -Dusty