A/N:
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, but I do own Mage, etc...
We all walked down to a cleaner, supposedly to get dry clothing. I was still voicing my disbelief as we reached it, "What are we going to do?" I was annoyed with their irrationality, "We have to take OFF our clothes to clean and dry them!" Robin slid a side ways glance at Starfire, quickly tugging down his suggestive smile. "What do we do as they're being washed, join a nudist park!" I practically yelled. All of them stopped and looked at me in shock; once again Robin glanced at Starfire.
"Mind out of the gutter, Robin," I hissed dangerously, not willing to show how amused I was at his antics. He shot me a dangerous look, both Cyborg and Beast Boy chuckled. "Anyway, even if we somehow manage to dry off our clothes, they'll just get dirty again as we put them on!"
"Relax Mage," Robin told me as we entered the building, "Everything's under control."
We walked into a small hallway like room with what looked like rows of clear showers all along it. "You're insane," I told him nervously, following them to a counter.
Robin chose to ignore me, "Six showers please, heavy duty," he said politely.
I looked at him in dismay, but this time I held my tongue. Robin gave the man the necessary money, and Robin received six tokens with rubber duckies on them. He passed out one to each of the teens; apparently they were all used to it. "Now Mage, this is really simply," he told me slowly, "You take this token and insert it into the slot." He reverently handed me the token, "Then you go into the shower stall and just stand there, clothes and all."
I gave him a look, "I'm not the one with questionable intelligence here," I informed him darkly.
"Just go!" he said in exasperation.
Grumbling I walked into nearest stall, amused by the fact that since all of the stalls were glass, and they were all lined up, you could see through the entire line of stalls. With great hesitation I inserted the token and closed the door. "It's probably going to be quick drying foam," I muttered, talking to reassure myself that it was okay.
With a gasp and shudder hot water rained down on me, soaking my already drench clothing. The cold rain water combated with the steaming shower water. After a few pleasant seconds of thawing, a second nozzle turned on. With a swift and steady sweeping motion I was quickly covered with powerful soap foam. It quickly worked its way into my hair, clothing, nose, and even my mouth. I could only be grateful that I wasn't wearing any shoes.
I was busy hacking up the foam as the spray of water hit me with redoubled force. Nozzles from every side pinned me in place, I couldn't help but imagine how I looked. A hacking girl in clear distress, stumbling from side to side. Foam dripping out of her nose, hair, and sweeping like a tide from her clothing. I could suddenly understand why all the showers were glass. You get clean, AND get to watch the show!
For an eternity of thirty seconds I battled with the water. I heard a change in machinery and braced myself for the impact. With a muffled curse I was slammed with torrents of hot air. It wrapped around me, weaving through the chinks in my clothing hair, and I wouldn't be surprised if I lost every black head that I ever had.
Finally I was dry, and the currents stopped. With a flop I found myself on the floor, with no possible hope of surviving with my bones in one piece. I looked through the showers and saw the silent giggles of the teens. If I ever wanted to live this down I had to beat them to the punch line.
I watched them through the perfect glass as they walked towards my shower. As soon as they were close enough to see me I made my move. Still on the floor I reached with 'great effort' for the handle. I groaned and whimpered dramatically, finally managing to push the door open. Using only my arms I dragged my now entirely clean self out. I panted and gasped, rolling onto my back into the middle of the floor. The rest of the teens formed a circle around me, I felt oddly better that Starfire's belly was so prominent at this view.
"I didn't..." I paused for a gasping breath, "Think I would make it," I panted breathlessly.
Just as I had hoped, everyone rolled their eyes at me and stalked off a little bit. Even Beast Boy was deterred from making cracks. Admittedly I had pissed them off a little for being an attention hog, but it deterred them from future wise cracks. As we walked out of the building I felt my adrenaline die down. Everything seemed to have a slightly rosy haze, and float around like soap bubbles on the air. The fresh smell of a short and sudden shower pervaded the air.
I could hear friends chattering away, they're closeness shown by the interweaving of their chants. I glanced at Starfire and noticed the definite exhaustion that creased her face. I wasn't the only one who had been mentally and physically depleted. I listened as her chant lilted along, not able to keep a steady volume or tone. How could I have missed that?
Robin cracked his neck, all of his muscles crying out in protest. His shoulders sagged slightly, as his steps hinted at dragging. His newly dried hair hung around his face like the spikes of a hedgehog. There were the suggestions of shadows under his eyes, and in his voice.
Raven was walking instead of floating, the most obvious sign of her discomfort. She showed no outward appearance of exhaustion. Yet everything around her softened to ease her pounding headache and sooth her weary step. She's telepathic, sort of, so the entities around her can affect how she's feeling. They can affect her the way that blasting music affects you. Fortunately Raven can't hear or willingly talk to entities, though she is slightly aware of them.
Cyborg had his usual gate, even if it was somewhat smaller. His grin was a charade, obvious to anyone who really knew him. His polished metal was slightly dim, and his skin would bruise soon. His energy levels were low, but he could reboot his own levels and was doing so. He could use solar energy, why do you think it takes so long for him to replace his battery?
Beast Boy was the punch, the poor boy could hardly stand up. His normal joviality was gone, and his (admittedly bad) jokes were put on hold. His body was weary, as was his mind. What made it so important was that you could hardly tell. He seemed to bounce around as usual, cracking jokes and grinning in the 'same old way.' Yet he didn't mean any of it, each laugh and joke couldn't be counted as real in my book. He wouldn't let anyone see his condition, though it was just mere (and well deserved) exhaustion.
How did I miss all this? It had to have been obvious in the cleaner place. If I hadn't been so absorbed with myself I could have let them laugh at me and MAYBE cheered them up. If I am cheering someone up, I have no problem with killing my pride. How much had I missed in the past few days? Had I always been as wrapped up in myself as I had just been?
There was no way a family of hormone driven teens could be having as perfect a life as my memory suggests. I needed to do something to cheer them up; they needed a place to rest. A whole day of rest. The mall needed to be canceled until they felt better. We all climbed into the T-car and drove back home.
I found that I couldn't wait to get home, a place to relax. The entire way back they chatted energetically, trying to remove their exhaustion through fakery. That actually does work sometimes, you cheer up and then what was bothering you is suddenly silly. Unfortunately it wouldn't work this time.
With puppet-like animation we stepped out of the car. With a cheerful smile I walked in, playing along for all of our benefit. I wasn't sad, I was quite happy in fact. It's just that the emotions that feel the most real to me are soft, a kind of quietness that seeps through me and steadily fuels me for days. No sudden passion for me, that's just like a dream, and remembered it like a dream.
I won't fill you in on the details of what I did. Basically all of the teens went up to their rooms. I cleaned the living room, completely. I swept, vacuumed (which I hate doing because it's so loud), and tidied the entire godforsaken room. By the time I was finished, we had four more hours till dinner (as in five thirty).
With a cheerful weariness I walked into the newly clean kitchen (I cleaned it with the evil living room) and took out two pots. I sighed contentedly as walked over to the stove. The handle of the pot was heavy in my hand, digging into my flesh as I filled it with water. With three quick steps I had set the half filled (relatively small) pot onto a heating burner. Humming I picked up the larger pot and walked over to the stove. Its two short handles were gentler on my hands.
The water swished around as the pot filled, creating a lovely counter melody to my changing tune. As the two pots heated on the stove I pulled out a cutting board. I began to hum along with the sound of steaming water and a working stove. With a large cutting knife I neatly sliced celery into small centimeter slices. Adding them to the two pots. As my tune changed, I added carrots, a small amount of rice, potatoes, and a VERY tiny amount of broccoli. I let them simmer as I took out some raw chicken breasts from the fridge.
With a slight flourish I chopped it into slices and slid them onto an already waiting pan. Quickly I set them on a hot burner to brown, and the heavenly sent of chicken wafted through the air. Soon they had the tone of cooked meat, and I added the slices to the larger pot. I turned the burners down and let both pots simmer, waiting for the juices to turn the water into proper soup.
I put some soap on a scrubby and began to wash the board, knife, and cooled pan. With those dried and put away I pulled out a large bowl.
Well, you get the idea. Over the next three hours I made soup (chicken and vegetable) and fresh white, with a little whole wheat grain, bread. At exactly six thirty...well alright, at six twenty three dinner was ready. The fresh bread wafted its scent at me; the soup got my stomach rumbling.
I looked up in surprise at the clock, shocked that I had managed to spend all day cleaning. It was the first day in a long time that had felt...REAL. That was probably because I had been helping the teens, I needed to join some community service soon. Nothing major, but helping people mentally, or normally, helped give me a feeling of accomplishment, meaning, and reality.
With a contented, if mildly tired sigh, I walked over to the air ventilation and turned it on...in reverse. Immediately the smells of food were sucked through the tower, infusing every single room with the need to EAT. My bare feet stuck slightly to the warm floor as I got out six bowls, plates, spoons, and a thing of butter with a knife.
Doors opened and the whispers of feet greeted my ears. I listened to the team meet each other in the elevator and walk towards the kitchen. Their footsteps could be heard clearly as they paused in front of the kitchen door, and entered.
Beast Boy trotted in, in the tell tale shape of a blood hound. His nose searched the air as he quickly changed into his drooling elf form.
"Awe man, what smells so good?" he asked with a stomach growl.
Starfire floated in, her hair wafting in the breeze, "Yes, what are these lovely scents," her stomach let out a roar, "That causes my stomach make sounds of anger?"
"It's soup Star, Beast Boy," I told them with a proud grin, "And your first taste of my fresh bread." I couldn't help but preen a little as the teens crowded around my food.
"Wow, that looks good Mage," Robin told me in surprise, his shock making me grin instead of bristle.
Raven filled a bowl, taking a tentative sip of the steaming chicken soup. "Indeed," she said in true Vulcan style. (If you aren't a trecky I am sorry.)
With a clamor they all went for the food, muttering a few choice words as someone's bowl intercepted theirs. "Yes, vegetarian style!" Beast Boy crowed cheerfully.
Finally they all stepped back. Then Cyborg walked up, apparently waiting out the fray, and filled his bowl. He gave me a smile, oddly brother like, and grabbed his bread (smothered in butter) and headed into the living room. I watched them leave, quickly grabbing my food so I could join them.
It felt oddly enough, lonely in the kitchen without them.
A/N: Did you notice anything different about this chapter? Anything different about...oh say, Mage's attitude? I tried to make it subtle, but not impossible to see. Tell me please, if you noticed it. Also, I am...well, a girly girl. I know practically nothing about guys, except that you don't get in a fight with them because they're bigger than you... So I was hopping that any guys out there (Spike TV) could help me out on how the three male teens would act.
Oh, and on the lines of me being a girly girl. I am girly, but I want to be self dependant. As soon as I can drag my dad away from work I'm going to get him to explain a car to me. I expect it to take a few weeks (definitely more), because I want to know how to take care of any maintenance problems, and a little more than that. I will NOT be one of those girls standing helpless by the car. Never, ever, EVER. I intend to take shop class and know how to use power tools. I am open to making a living with my hands. And though I am pitifully weak, I am willing to change that. So I will NOT and am not HELPLESS.
Sorry about that, most guys think I am. So I have to beat them off with a stick when I try to do any physical labor. Grr... I'm not all that attractive or anything, I just strike you as helpless. Though if you want to pretend that I'm absolutely drop dead gorgeous, I have NO problem with that. Just not helpless.
Reviewage:
Spike TV: I'm glad my chapters meet your standards. Don't feel stupid about the movies, I make mistakes FAR worse than that. You really should watch Dangerous Liasons though, and Arsenic and Old Lace. I will keep up the good work. Did you like this chapter? Did YOU find the difference. And sorry about ranting about girly girl, it bugs me. Your slow update will only be forgiven if you update within three days. By the way, I don't hold grudges, I just remember not trust as much, or act the same way.
Mystican(): Thanks about the HAYEP, its helpful. I can keep the work for Slade, because all the teens know is that they are associated with Slade. That was a close one. Thanks for warning me, should I bring the bad team (Jinx etc.) into the story? If so, how much?
Wild Spirit Of Darkness 2: I did update, I'm glad your happy. And thank you SO MUCH for the information.
Niki Pound: Sorry about your name, my computer corrects it automatically and I didn't catch it that time. Are you Jewish or Christian? Or are you an Atheist, or not sure if you believe in God, or what? Or is this (undoubtedly) a too personal question?
Karl Franz: Is this story different from other stories, or was that chapter different from the rest in Mage? THANK YOU for the website, it was most useful.
