Disclaimer: I do not own teen titans or the words to the song 'Here for the Party' by Gretchen Wilson
Hand in Hand
Chapter Thirty-Two: Here for the Party
15th December
Beast Boy was running around the tower like a boy possessed. Hanging mistletoe here, and holly branches there. He had spent have of the previous night calling round his guests, making sure they were coming and making special arrangements for some of his friends' more unique tastes.
He'd spent the best part of the morning clearing out the hall on the third floor, it was being used as storage space, but they had all agreed that because it was the biggest room in titan's tower that they should take advantage of that fact and use it for the party.
They'd been clearing out the old furniture, Cyborg had been moving some of the heavier things, while Starfire and Terra had been in charge of redecorating, it was a quick job but they had finally gotten it done in time. Raven even leant a helping hand by levitating some of the long table in that they would use to put the buffet food on. Robin had spent the morning ordered the food, and had gotten into quite a few arguments with pizza place managers, as he thought they had overcharged him, much to everyone else's amusement.
He had gone to the extra trouble to write out Christmas cards to all the people he knew were coming, he had finally gotten it out of Cyborg who he was inviting and he wasn't surprised to find that they were all girls. He had even gone out and bought some extra presents.
He had never been so excited in his life. He was even going to get to meet some of Terra's friends from when she used to travel, and he was going to get the chance to meet some more atlantians! Raven had told him that one even had cat eyes, which of course excited him no end.
Suffice to say there was a permanent grin attached to his face as he whizzed around getting ready for six o'clock when everyone else would arrive.
## Well I'm an eight ball fisted double shooting son of a gun,
I wear my jeans a little tight,
Just to watch the little boys come undone,
I'm here for the beer and the ball busting band,
Gonna get a little crazy just because I can ##
Robin glowered darkly at the man on the doorstep, "This is daylight robbery." He seethed.
The man held up his hands and shook his head, "Hey I'm not the boss, I just deliver the food, don't shoot the messenger."
Robin growled in the back of his throat but dug into his pockets for the cash anyway, he handed over the bills into the other man's hands who tipped his hat and said good day before turning and trotting back the way he had come.
Robin shook his head and put his hands on his hips. He stared down at the amount of food that was now piled on the doorstep. There were boxes of pizzas that would need to be reheated later, bowls full of salad, bowls of pasta, Chinese food, a turkey with all the trimmings, chocolate cake, ginger cake, dried fruit and nuts. He knew that Terra was going to make sandwiches and Starfire, unfortunately was going to make…something.
He jumped slightly as Raven's black magic enveloped the food and lifted it gently off of the ground. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at her, she seemed to be cheering up recently; he hoped that it stayed that way.
"I'll put these in the kitchen shall I?" she asked, her lips curling up into a smile that was not quite happy, it was more…relieved. Robin decided it was his mind playing tricks upon him.
He nodded and grinned back, "Yeah, Terra and Beast Boy are going to put it all on plates and take it to down to the hall later."
She nodded and went back inside, taking the food with her.
Robin smiled to himself and then followed her; this party was going to be amazing, and further more his guests had sent back their invitations this morning so he knew that they were coming.
It was going to be a blast.
## You know I'm here for the party,
And I ain't leaving until they throw me out,
Gonna have a little fun, gonna get me some,
You know I'm here, here for the party##
Cyborg was getting irritated. The damn fairy lights that he was supposed to be stringing around the hall didn't want to comply with his wishes, every time he pegged them up, the other end fell down. It was getting on his nerves.
The hall had to be finished by five at the latest; he had to string up the white lights across the ceiling, which had been painted black, courtesy of Raven, so that the flashing bulbs would look like stars in the night sky.
He had to fasten the multicoloured star shaped lights around the edges of all the long wooden tables, before the food was put on them, to top it all he had to get a disco ball up so that it hung from the rafters, and set up the stereo with flashing red and green lights so that it lit up the floor when the music was playing.
He had a box of tiny silver pegs in one hand and the end of the lights in his other, and he was balanced on the end of a wooden foot ladder. He was beginning to wish that his guests would get here early to help him, after all two of them were good with electronics.
He looked at his watch, it was ten past two, he didn't have long, he reached up and pegged the wire he was holding into the corner, making sure that the lights faced outwards.
"Hey Cy!" called Terra from the bottom of the ladder.
He jumped slightly but managed to hold his balance, without turning around he answered, "Yeah?"
Terra leaned against the wall and flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder, "I just wanted to know if you had any preferences for music."
"Anything about Christmas and anything by The Goo Goo Dolls are good." He replied after a moments thought before he leaned over and pegged up more lights.
"Okay, thanks." Grinned Terra straightening and heading off to another part of the tower, "This is gonna be great." She shouted over her shoulder.
Cyborg agreed, but he couldn't answer because he had a peg in his mouth.
##I may not be a ten but the boys say that I clean up good,
And if I give them half a chance,
For some rowdy romance you know they would,
I've been waiting all week to have a good time,
So bring on them cowboys and their pick up lines##
It was quarter to six. Raven was standing in the kitchen doorway. She pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips, everyone else was busy getting changed now, all the decorations had been complete and the food had been set out, the lights had been turned on and she was pretty sure that the stereo was already playing a random Christmas song, if she listened hard enough she could hear it.
She wasn't one for getting dressed up, but she was going to be seeing people that she hadn't seen in ages, and so she had made a small effort, she was wearing black flare jeans that covered her boots and a long sleeved navy blue blouse with a high colour, she had finished off her ensemble with a hoodless version of the cloak off of her uniform.
She leaned against the doorframe and waited. Starfire was the first of her team mates to appear, the bubbly Tameran girl was wearing a long purple dress with three quarter length sleeves. A green sash was tied around her waist and she grinned and waved when she saw that Raven was waiting.
"Friend Raven!" she screeched, "Isn't this fabulous! We're going to have a party, you look really pretty! Do you think this dress is alright? Will Robin like it?"
Raven winced at the high pitched voice but she plastered a smile on her face, "I'm…sure he'll like it just fine."
Star opened her mouth to say something else but was prevented from doing so by the sound of Cyborg and Beast Boy approaching, as usual they were arguing.
"No, my clothes are not retro. How can you even say that?" demanded Beast Boy as the two of them rounded the corner, "Well, you're tie looks dumb."
"Hey, leave the tie outta this, the tie is cool and you know it."
The tie in question was dark red and had a yellow Christmas star on it near to the bottom. It was festive. Beast Boy on the other hand was wearing dark blue cords and a yellow shirt, with a mid-calf length white blazer over the top, he had slicked his hair back with hair gel, and despite his protests both girls had to admit that it did look slightly retro.
Cyborg looked up and noticed the girl first, "Hey guys, looking good." Starfire giggled and blushed behind her hand, Raven just blinked.
## You know I'm here for the party,
And I ain't leaving until they throw me out,
Gonna have a little fun, gonna get me some,
You know I'm here, here for the party##
Beast Boy looked up and grinned at them, he gave them a thumb up sign and then looked at his watch, "Oh man, where's Terra? The people are gonna start arriving any minute now."
"I'm here BB." Said a soft voice.
He turned around, and his jaw, literally hit the floor. Terra, his girl, was dressed in baggy beige cargo pants and a black spaghetti strap top with a black sleeveless cardigan over it, she had put some make-up on, and suffice to say, she looked stunning.
"Wow, babe, you look…" Beast Boy trailed off, "What I mean is, you are…no….you look stunning…no beautiful…no fantastic."
Terra giggled, "I'll ignore the fact that all those words mean the same thing." She leaned over to him and kissed his cheek, "Have any of the guests arrived yet?" she asked looking around.
"No." he sighed and looked at his watch, but it's one minute to six now, so any second now right?"
##Don't want no purple hooter shooter just some jack on the rocks,
Don't mind me if I start that trashy talk##
"Hey guys." Said Robin as he jogged down the last few stairs, "You all look fantastic." He stopped between Raven and Starfire. He was wearing baggy stonewash jeans and a dark red polo neck jumper, he hooked his arm around Starfire and grinned, "Hey, why don't some of us go down to the hall ready for when the guests arrive, we can't all stay here and answer the door."
Cyborg nodded, "Good idea Rob, I'll go, I wanna get some food anyway before Beast boy eats it all."
Beast Boy puffed up his chest in indignation.
Robin sighed, "Why don't you all go down, I'll stay here and welcome the guests."
Everyone was halted from saying anything further when there was a knock at the door.
## You know I'm here for the party,
And I ain't leaving until they throw me out,
Gonna have a little fun, gonna get me some,
You know I'm here, here for the party##