Chapter Four: Raven
As I was fastening my badge on, I heard a knock at the door. "Raven?" It was Robin. I opened the door a few inches.
"Yes?"
"Starfire wanted to let you know that your cloaks are dry. They're in her room if you want to get them."
I nodded and began to shut the door, but his green-gloved fingers grabbed it before it was closed. "Now." He let go and began to walk away.
I opened the door again and saw it in his eyes. The look of worry he wore when trying to figure something out. When chasing Slade. When worried about Starfire.
"What happened?" I asked, opening the door all the way and stepping into the hallway.
He froze and looked over his shoulder. "What makes you-"
"You're predictable, Robin. We all know when you're worried about something, or distressed. And especially if it's about Slade, or maybe Starfire. And if the others know, then I most certainly do. But if you don't want us to know what's bothering you, you don't have to tell us."
He shifted his weight uncomfortably, still not facing me. I lifted my hood and walked past him a few steps, then turned around again. "We're smarter than you think." I muttered slowly. "We aren't idiots."
The sound of something breaking erupted down to us from the kitchen. "BEAST BOY!" I heard Cyborg yell, and then turned my attention back to Robin.
"Scratch that. Some of us aren't idiots."
Robin smiled ever so slightly and continued to walk. I smirked and turned the other way, to Starfire's room. He always worried about her the most, the most out of any other team member. That was probably because he likes her the most, too, and not just as a friend.
Of course, between being beaten by Slade numerous times and going on countless missions to save the city, he never actually told Starfire that he does. We all know, of course. 'We all' being Cyborg, Beast Boy, and me. The only two that don't seem to know are Robin and Starfire themselves. Denial, anyone?
I looked up at the door in front of me and knocked. "Yes?" came Starfire's answer.
"Robin said my stuff was dry," I muttered, and the door opened swiftly. I walked inside a single step and was instantly handed my clothes. Starfire began to close the door again, but I stopped it with one hand, just as Robin had stopped mine.
"What's up?" I asked. She tilted her head to the side in the slightly idiotic way she had always done. "Robin seemed as if he was worried about you."
Starfire's cheeks reddened. She widened her eyes in surprise. "I…I was, um, simply not myself after we got home. Now I am fine…" she left it there, so I nodded. It was their business, after all.
"Sure." I said as I removed my fingers from the door. "Good night, Starfire."
"Yes," she said, and then closed the door.
Chapter Five: Beast Boy
I combed my fingers through my green hair as Cyborg yelled at me for being so careless around hot water. I rolled my eyes again. So what if I spilled some water? I mean, I care about Raven getting wet, and possibly hurt, but… she was at least semi-okay, so why should I be given a 20-minute lecture on how to handle taunting?
"Seriously, BB," Cyborg continued. Honestly? I didn't know what he was talking about. I was more concerned about my hair and even how many slugs would drown in the downpour than whatever he was trying to tell me. "You gotta be more careful around hot things! What if that kettle had hit someone? What if the water had done worse damage?"
I shrugged. "I said I was sorry. I'll say it again next time I see Raven. And I won't be jumping over any more counters any time soon. That whack you gave me was certainly enough for me to learn my lesson."
"Well," he said in a finalized tone. "Be more careful. And could you at least clean up the teacup that you knocked onto the floor?"
I looked down at the broken china scattered around the floor and shrugged again. "Alright, alright, I will!" I grabbed a dustpan and broom from the storage closet and crouched, sweeping up the fragments slowly.
I knew Cyborg was smirking over my shoulder, but I just kept sweeping until he walked out the main doors with a, "G'night. I'm getting some rest."
After a few minutes of cleaning in silence, I stood and threw away the pieces that had been collecting in the dustpan. The door opened behind me, and then closed with a quiet click. Did someone come in? I turned around quietly.
Raven was floating there, moving silently as a ghost through the shadows. The lightning flashed and lit up the area, sending shadows flying across her gaunt face. I shivered. She was really creepy sometimes, and when she didn't even try!
"Yes?" she asked. I must've jumped up in surprise, because suddenly I felt a stinging in my side; I had run into the counter.
"Hunh?" I asked in reply.
"What are you watching me for?" She looked directly at me.
"I, uh…" I thought quickly. "I, uh, wanted to apologize again for spilling that water on you." I smiled, trying to act normal. "Are you going to make some more tea now?"
"No." she said stonily. She sat down on the couch and looked out the window. The rain splattered the windows loudly and thunder boomed from the distance. "With you around, it'll probably just burn me again."
I felt the usually-green skin on my cheeks turn slightly pinker, half out of embarrassment, half out of shame. "I said I was-"
"And I see you broke my teacup. Nice." She didn't move her gaze from the window. Suddenly, she stood and walked back out into the hallway. I watched the door close and leaned against the counter I had bumped into earlier. Geez, Raven. Random much?
Chapter Six: Cyborg
I walked down to my room and stood just inside my door as it slid shut. I walked toward my system recharger sullenly, mulling over Beast Boy's senselessness around hot, boiling objects. I mean, he should have enough sense to go around messing with Raven's tea. Actually he just shouldn't mess with Raven in general.
Seriously. It always ends the same way- he gets confused, she gets angry, so on and so forth. And not to mention-
A knock at the door silenced my racing thoughts. I opened it and saw Robin standing there, an anxious look played across his face. "What's up, man?" I asked slowly, hoping it wasn't Slade.
"It's Starfire." He said, just as slowly.
Great. Almost as great as Slade, in fact. I supposed she's second in line for the top cause of Robin's worry-meter. Sure, she's strong as an ox in battle and is too kind to be human –which, of course, she isn't really- but, in her heart, she always has some conundrum going on. And as leader, Robin thinks it's his job to sort it out.
"What about her?" I asked nonchalantly, trying to shorten up the conversation.
"She's… worried. About when I fell down the stairs."
I remembered the 'incident' and my face grew serious. "What, did Adonis and the thunderstorm remind her?"
"Yeah," Robin said. "And I told her that she shouldn't worry, because we fixed that problem, and it's not going to happen again. Problem is, she doesn't seem convinced. Any ideas?"
I began to laugh quietly. "Man… and you think I'm going to know what to do? Go ask Raven or BB! Or just Starfire…"
Robin sighed. I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say. "Well, Raven isn't… like Starfire. Let's just leave it at that. And Beast Boy… well… he's not really that much of a girl." I cracked a grin. Robin continued, "And even I know that he doesn't do too well in the 'Girls' portion of any test…." This time he smiled, though his face still remained serious.
"True, true. And Star?" I asked.
"Well, I'm sort of hoping she'll just fall asleep and this whole thing will be forgotten."
I nodded and rolled my eyes. "You just answered your own question, dude. G'night."
"Oh, uh… yeah, I guess I did." He shrugged and looked up at me. "Sorry, I was just kind of out of it."
I nodded again and closed the door.
Chapter Seven: Starfire
I sat on my bed drying my red hair with one of those "Hair Dryers," as Robin called it, listening to a classical music station on the radio, watching the rain fall and splatter on my huge window. The Hair Dryer most certainly is an interest invention, though I believe it does the same job as simply sitting around and waiting for hair to dry. I suppose it is faster…
I unplugged it when I was done and put it away in its place in my closet. I walked over to my bed slowly and sat down, pulling a blanket over my legs. Tapping my fingers to the rhythm, I noticed that it was a nice tune. Or as Raven would say, a piece with many violins and cellos.
The lamp at my right flickered, and the music cut out. The room's light flashed on, off. On, then off. They sputtered like that over and over again, and then abrupt darkness. I could hear the rain and thunder, and suddenly the room flooded with light as a bolt of lightning lit the night sky outside.
I heard a girlish scream from the main room; Beast Boy, I presumed.
My hand glowed green as I lit my room with a starbolt. The power was… out? It had only happened once before, but that time was in the middle of a clear, sunny day, not during a fierce thunderstorm.
I heard a pounding at my door, so I walked toward it slowly and opened it.
"Starfire?" A voice asked. I lifted my hand, and the hallway was lit with a soft, green glow. It was Robin.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, of course!" I smiled and stepped out of the door. "It is only a power outage, such as the one we had before. Is Beast Boy alright?"
He shrugged and began walking quickly to the main room. I fell into step beside him easily.
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