OOC-ness alert. I'm sorry guys, but it's true. There's probably also some chronological errors, but I did my best to figure out a timeline. I always give my best in everything that I do, but right now, this is my best. Definitely this chapter isn't even as edited as I'd like it to be, but if I don't upload it now, I'm not sure I ever will. Life discovered my hiding spot and is making up for lost time. : ) I'm going through a really hard time right now, so much so that I'm not even sure I'll make it back from this one—not in a deadly sort of way, but I've just sort of lost all artistic will in everything.
Anyways, I also apologize to any Spanish speakers because it's been a long time since I've been around the language, so I've pretty much lost any ability I ever had to speak it.
I do not own: Teen Titans, Puff the Magic Dragon, Reign of Fire, or Godzilla. Oh yes, aren't you just ever so curious now to know what in the world is going on this chapter? ; )
Past Histories
Robin stood in front of one wall of the evidence room, scowling at the pictures and articles tacked across its face. He hated this wall. It consumed so much of his time but never repaid him with any answers. Worse still, every time he thought he was done with it, he would find himself standing there yet again. He didn't even bother with adding a chair for comfort, preferring to stand as firm and stolid as the unyielding obstacle.
In the very center of the collage, the mask taunted him. Half-black and half-coppery tan, it stared back at him through one empty eye, and its grated mouth withheld its secrets with silence for words.
Robin narrowed his eyes and glared fiercely. After all this time, Slade, Robin's nemesis, remained a thorn in the Boy Wonder's side. It just didn't seem physically possible for one villain to so haunt a hero, but Slade was making it his existential expertise.
It's like his only purpose is to cause conflict for me, Robin thought to himself, scowling all the harder.
It had been more than a year since the defeat of Trigon before Slade had made another appearance, and even then it had only been an empty robot that Beast Boy had fought at the old fair. That was the last that the Titans had overtly heard from Slade, but Robin had long suspected over the next year and several months that Slade was still behind many unsolved mysteries. The villain was always one answer out of reach, one mastermind higher in the criminal food chain, one glimpse of a shadow that could never be confirmed. Even so, as intangible as he could make himself, he still managed to have a strong presence in Robin's life.
And now Slade might be preparing to make his presence known again. Again. There were just too many pawns that Robin had been running across lately in the recent crime spike, too many criminals that were too dense to have organized for themselves the heists they were pulling, but not a single one that Robin had apprehended could tell him who was feeding them these ideas or why. It made him grind his teeth to be so positive that he knew who was behind this yet to have no proof. As long as he didn't have proof, the others would think he was just obsessing again.
Robin's stomach growled, and his scowl turned into an annoyed frown. He had been ignoring his hunger for almost two hours now, but he was only human, and he would have to satisfy his physical needs.
It's not like it won't still be here when I get back, he thought to himself as he gave the mask a parting glare.
Robin left the evidence room and began walking the halls toward the common room, and his feet carried him unerringly while his eyes saw not the interior of the Titans Tower, but the wall of questions that he had left behind. Slade was too damn crafty not to have some method to his madness, but Robin was failing to find the connections he was looking for amid the recent crimes. Hell, Robin was failing to find without doubt that it was even Slade who was doing all of this. He just knew. It was a gut feeling that shouted in Robin's head, telling him his old nemesis was back to being up to no good.
The smell of food greeted Robin before the doors to the common room even came into view, and his mouth watered as he hoped that he hadn't already missed the opportunity to get some of whatever had been cooked. It was well past the normal lunch hour, but with Cyborg and Beast Boy around, every hour between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm was an opportunity for a lunch hour, so it was still possible that Robin had arrived in time to bum off some food.
Robin walked into the common room and immediately looked towards the kitchen, and in good fortune, Cyborg was just pulling something out of the oven. It looked like lasagna and smelled absolutely delicious.
"Hey, Robin! Just in time!" Cyborg called out excitedly and beamed over his steaming dish as he set it down on the counter.
"Hey, Cyborg," Robin greeted more sedately. He sat down in the chair directly in front of the lasagna. "So what's in it?" he asked with a smile, knowing that Cyborg would be all too happy to describe his culinary creation.
"Only like every meat known to man!" Beast Boy cut in, popping up out of nowhere and looking in horror at the lasagna. "Maybe even man!" He gave a woozy sigh, swayed, and fell backwards in a theatrical faint.
Starfire gasped as she flew over and joined them. "Please, you eat other humans on your planet?" she asked. "That is unthinkable!"
"Don't worry, Star," Cyborg assured. "BB's just bein' overdramatic. There ain't nothin' in here ta be worried about. It's just good ol' home cookin' with pork, beef, chicken, turkey, and none of that spinach stuff."
"Isn't having chicken and turkey redundant?" Raven drily commented from across the room. She had remained seated in her chair, still reading a novel while everyone else had congregated in the kitchen. She looked completely relaxed, though, with her hood down and legs comfortably crossed.
"Not in my book!" Cyborg defended. "Now who wants some?"
Beast Boy had just pulled himself back to his feet, but he exaggerated fainting again when Cyborg cut out a huge chunk of the lasagna and plopped it down on a plate, meat and cheese oozing out from between the thin layers of pasta.
"I'll take some," Robin spoke up, earning himself the first plate.
"I also shall try the pork, beef, chicken, and turkey with none of 'the spinach,' " Starfire said.
Cyborg slid a plateful to Starfire and called out to Raven, "How 'bout you, Raven? C'mon, you know you want some."
Raven patiently lifted her eyes from the page she was reading and answered, "I just ate an hour ago."
"So?"
"I'm not hungry."
"C'mon, girl. You need ta put some meat on them bones."
"No."
Raven ended the debate by returning to her book, and Cyborg left her alone.
Robin prodded at the lasagna with his fork, waiting for it to cool down a little, but Starfire had no such qualms and dug in. Her face immediately lit up with delight, and Robin smiled to see her so pleased. It always made him happy to see her happy.
"So whatcha think?" Cyborg asked the alien girl, though he already wore a smug smile as he casually leaned on one elbow on the counter.
"It is delicious!" Starfire exclaimed. "Please, what is the name of this Earth dish?"
"It's lasagna like you've never seen before. I like ta call it 'Cyborg's new four meat and cheese lasagna.' "
"More like 'Cyborg's four murders and a theft lasagna, ' " Beast Boy grumbled, standing up and crossing his arms in a pout.
Robin smiled and turned his attention back to his food as Cyborg and Beast Boy jumped into a continuation of their lifelong contention between being carnivorous versus being vegetarian. It was an argument that never really ended, just took breaks between meals. He sliced into his own lasagna, having no inhibitions himself against the main ingredients, but the fork never made it to his mouth as the main computer began beeping in announcement of an incoming transmission. Lunch would just have to wait a little longer.
"Cyborg, put it up on the screen," Robin said, getting up and walking into the living area to be in direct sight of whoever was calling.
The giant flatscreen suddenly filled with the face and shoulders of an exhausted Bumblebee, who was covered in soot. One of her hair buns even looked singed and disfigured. The sight captured the attention of everyone in the common room, and those who were still in the kitchen wandered over to the living area to get a better look.
"Whoa," Beast Boy breathed out as he took in the sight of the Titans East leader.
"Bumblebee, are you all right?" Robin immediately asked, and he planted his hands on the console to peer closely at the screen, trying to see behind her for some indication of what was going on. All he could make out, though, was that she was back in the Titans East Tower.
"Sorta. We got our butts kicked, but we're all still in one piece," Bumblebee tiredly answered.
"Speak for yourself," Aqualad dismally remarked from somewhere off-screen.
"¡El lagarto gigante! ¡El lagarto gigante! ¡Ya no queremos combatir el lagarto gigante!" two high-pitched voices whined together. ["The giant lizard! The giant lizard! We don't want to fight the giant lizard anymore!"]
Bumblebee gritted her teeth and leaned away to yell, "Aqualad! Calm 'em down! I'm tryin' to talk to Robin!" She turned back to Robin, who was still trying and failing to see what was going on. "Sorry about that. I guess the twins have a fear of dragons."
"Dragons?" Robin repeated, his eyes widening in surprise.
"No way!" Beast Boy cut in. "You mean like Puff the Magic Dragon kind of dragons or like Reign of Fire kind of dragons?" he asked, morphing appropriately for illustrations.
"Well, not drag-uns, but drag-un," Bumblebee answered. "And I mean the dragon-we-fought-against-in-the-Brotherhood-of-Evil-showdown kind of dragon."
"But I thought the Herald sent it to another dimension," Cyborg put in.
"Then I guess it got out," Bumblebee impatiently replied and pointedly jabbed a finger at her ruined hair bun. Her weariness returned, though, and she tiredly asked, "You guys fought this thing before, right? Got any pointers?"
Everyone in the Titans West living room immediately turned towards Raven. She was sitting on the edge of her seat, and her teeth were gritted as she stared up at the screen, her book lying forgotten in her lap. It took her a moment to realize that everyone was looking at her, but when she did, she quickly cleared the expression from her face and lifted her hood over her head.
"Are you absolutely sure it's the same dragon?" Raven evenly asked.
"Yeah, we're sure. We've had plenty of opportunities to look at it." Bumblebee winced and admitted, "This isn't the first time we've fought it and lost."
"You didn't have to tell them that," came Speedy's quiet grumble as he trudged across the background of the screen. It was difficult to see behind Bumblebee, but there was an unmistakable frown on his face as he held up a hand mirror and tried to comb his frizzed hair back into perfection.
Bumblebee ignored him and added, "We thought we got it one time. Aqualad had soaked the thing with so much water that it could barely puff out a wisp of smoke. Me and Speedy went in to finish it off—" a look off irritation crossed her face, and she looked to the side to interject, "because Mas and Menos were too busy cowering somewhere."
"No nos ocultábamos, mujer mandón," one of the off-screen twins retorted. "Proporcionábamos refuerzo." ["We weren't hiding, bossy woman. We were providing backup."]
Bumblebee crinkled one side of her nose but didn't start an argument with them. Instead she relaxed and turned back to the screen.
"But after we blasted it, it just disappeared," she said. "We thought that was the end until it came back today."
"He just disappeared?" Raven repeated dubiously. "Malchior can't just disappear and reappear."
"Are you sure?" Robin asked. "Since the Brotherhood of Evil got their hands on the book, can we be sure of anything when it comes to Malchior?"
Raven slid a glance at Robin, and though he couldn't see any indicative expressions beneath her hood, he got the feeling like he had just insulted or offended her in some way. He hadn't meant to question her judgment; he was just being thorough. Or maybe she was upset because he had brought up the fact that someone had secretly stolen the book from her in the first place; in which case, he wasn't blaming her. Whoever had stolen the book had replaced it with a very convincing replica, and since the Titans had been traveling so much that year anyway, it wasn't surprising that something had managed to get stolen without anyone noticing. Besides, Robin had a theory on who could have pulled off a theft like that, and if the particular criminal in mind had managed to steal the Red X suit from the vault, then it was hardly a wonder that the same criminal could switch out Raven's book with a fake without her noticing it.
Or perhaps Robin was reading way too much into her reaction, and she was merely displeased by the idea that Malchior might have some new tricks up his sleeves. He wouldn't know unless she spoke up about it, which she wouldn't.
"Has he always appeared as a dragon?" Raven asked Bumblebee.
"Why wouldn't he?" Bumblebee quizzically replied.
The question went unanswered as Raven looked down at the floor to think. Whatever thought crossed her mind, it didn't look good judging from the way her fists clenched.
"The Malchior has disguised himself in humanoid form in the past," Starfire supplied since no one else answered.
"But if he isn't appearing in a human form anymore, then he might be fully released from the book this time," Raven quietly added, raising her head again.
"Is that possible?" Robin asked.
"I did it before, didn't I?" Raven unhappily pointed out, flicking her eyes to his face.
"Yeah, but you know all that creepy magic stuff," Beast Boy said, waving his hands at his sides. His blithe comment was clear evidence that he was oblivious to the tone lacing Raven's voice. "Who else could've done it?"
"BB's got a point," Cyborg said.
"Malchior taught me how to do it. He could have taught someone else," Raven said.
There was still a tinge of displeasure in her voice, and Robin thought it might be a warning sign. He didn't want Beast Boy or anyone else pushing her too far, especially with the incident from a couple of weeks ago that had landed Jinx in the emergency room. Raven had said that it was an accident and nothing more, that she was fine, and he wanted to trust her judgment, but he also knew that sometimes she could convince herself and others she was fine when she wasn't. A certain scary-movie night stood as a particular reminder of that.
"Bumblebee, can we get back to you on this?" Robin said to the screen.
"Sure thing. It's not like we're going anywhere for a while," she replied, unhappily wiping some soot from her cheek.
"Titans out."
He ended the transmission and turned back to his team. Beast Boy had one hand on his hip and the other scratching his head as he squinted at the ceiling for answers, and Cyborg and Starfire were both looking to Robin for his leadership. Raven, he noticed, was looking away again.
Damn. Robin wanted to help out the Titans East, but this couldn't have come at a worse time. He was so sure that Slade was back, and he couldn't risk leaving Jump City for a day lest the villain take full advantage of such an absence. It put Robin in a bad spot, torn between his personal vendetta and the other group of Titans. He didn't have time for this, and he certainly couldn't leave.
Maybe I don't have to, Robin thought, turning his head toward Raven.
"I got it!" Beast Boy said with a snap. "When the Herald sent Malchior to another dimension, the radiation turned him into a super dragon just like that iguana in that movie got turned into Godzilla. Then Malchior laid a trillion super-dragon eggs that started falling through wormholes, and one fell in Steel City, probably into a factory where the heat incubated it until it hatched into a dimension-traveling alien dragon!" he ended in a shout, pulling at his hair in histrionic anxiety.
"Malchior is male," Raven deadpanned, cluing Beast Boy into the most obvious oversight.
"Oh right," the changeling demurely replied, touching his finger to his chin to reconsider his theory.
Cyborg started laughing outright.
"Please, the Zilla is a deity on your planet?" Starfire asked.
Cyborg's laughter cut off as his jaw dropped at Starfire's confusion, and Beast Boy looked like he was also about to freak out over the alien girl not knowing who Godzilla was.
Robin decided to take the opportunity for a semi-private conversation with Raven. He quietly walked over to her while the other three Titans began discussing Godzilla in the background, and Raven placed her book aside and stood at his approach.
"Raven, you're the only one who really knows Malchior's weaknesses and how to defeat him," Robin said, carefully choosing his words.
"I know, but without the book…" She looked away, though he wasn't sure if this were a reaction of a lack of confidence or of further thought.
"Magic is your expertise. If anyone is going to find a way to lock Malchior away again, it's going to be you."
Raven returned her gaze to his face but didn't respond to that.
Robin hesitated for only a fraction of a moment before he carefully asked, "Would you be willing to go to Steel City to help the other Titans?"
"You mean alone," Raven stated rather than asked.
He shook his head. "You won't be alone. You'll have Bumblebee and the rest of Titans East with you, and if you need us, all you'll have to do is call. Promise."
Robin smiled and added, "Besides, maybe a little time spent with the Titans East could do you some good. You might be able to make new—"
He was about to say "friends," but the way Raven was glaring at him, daring him to finish that, made him stop short, and it very nearly had him taking a step back. Maybe he should just let that one go.
Raven briefly glanced down in a moment of consideration, but it wasn't long before she looked back up and nodded.
"Only if you mean it. I'm not forcing you to do this," Robin said.
They both knew why he was emphasizing free will, and he could tell that if he hadn't irritated Raven before, then he had definitely done so now.
"Robin, you know me. I'm not concerned about what happened before; I'm only worried about what Malchior's return could mean. Emotions do not and will not affect my judgment."
"I know," he said softly. He wanted to add something else to that, but he couldn't, not without Raven taking offense to it. He wanted to say that he wasn't concerned about her abilities or the decisions she would make, but he was concerned about her. Just because she could function as if she had no history with Malchior didn't mean that it wouldn't hurt her on some level to do so.
"Are you sure you know? Maybe you don't," Raven said. "I don't hold anything against him anymore, Robin. This mission means nothing more or less to me than if you were sending me after any other enemy. What happened, happened. There is no reason for it to negatively affect what happens next."
Robin was half stunned and half dubious. Raven would never intentionally lie, of that he was sure, but did she know herself so well that she could tell him this so confidently? She had always been unique and irreplaceable in her ability to be so levelheaded and place logic over emotion, but she was human. As Robin had told her a couple of weeks ago, feeling was part of being human. Could she really have so completely let go of what happened between her and Malchior?
Robin's surprise fell away, and he considered instead that perhaps he had overestimated Malchior's effect on Raven and had underestimated her ability to accept the things that are and move on. He supposed that it was a good quality for her to have, but he still rued the fact that Raven ever had to learn this absolute control of her psyche in the first place. He saw it as constraining or at least onerous for her.
Although, perhaps that was Robin's biased opinion. Raven didn't seem to mind this intense control of herself and had even said so. Perhaps he was seeing captivity and burden where there was none. If this was the way she had to live and she had no problem with that, then what right did he have to question it?
"You know I trust you," Robin said with a smile. "I didn't mean to question you."
"It was understandable."
Raven turned away and headed for the doors, and he decided not to press the issue. If she said she'd do it, she would, and if she said she was fine…well, he'd have to trust her. Even if Raven didn't always talk to someone else about her problems, that didn't mean she wasn't fully capable of taking care of herself. Robin just wished she would allow her friends to help her more. It seemed like she always tried to carry every burden alone, but there were people all around her who cared about her and would willingly share the weight of her troubles.
Raven walked out of the common room and out of sight, and Robin turned to see the other three Titans still avidly discussing Godzilla. Beast Boy had morphed himself into a hardly intimidating representation of the classic monster, and Cyborg was didactically pointing out the various qualities while Starfire observed and nodded seriously in rapt attention.
Deciding not to interrupt the lesson, Robin went straight to the console and reopened a communication line to the Titans East Tower. Bumblebee promptly appeared on the screen, her face now clean of soot, though her hair bun was still pining for better days.
"So, you got a solution?" Bumblebee tiredly asked, skipping pleasantries altogether.
Robin shook his head and grimly replied, "I can't help you, but I can send someone who can."
"Raven?" Bumblebee easily guessed. It would have been difficult for her not to notice how everyone had looked to the pale Titan when the subject of the dragon had been brought up.
Robin nodded. "She said she'd go."
"In that case, maybe we can make a trade. Mind if Mas and Menos stay with you guys for a while? They don't seem too keen on the dragon thing, and if they're not going to be useful here, I'd rather they be useful somewhere."
Robin deliberated, though he tried to be quick about it so that Bumblebee wouldn't notice and get the wrong impression. He didn't have anything against Mas and Menos—hell, they had proved crucial in the final fight with the Brotherhood of Evil—but he was reluctant to take on members from another team when he was sure it was Slade he would soon be up against. It was too difficult to fight a powerful opponent with a team that wasn't fully adjusted to each other. He was already hard pressed to lose a critical teammate by letting Raven go for a while, but she really was the best-suited one to take down Malchior—maybe even the only one who could.
Robin's ever-processing mind, however, skipped ahead of him and was already thinking about how he could use Mas and Menos on his team. It could prove useful to come at Slade with a pair of heroes that the villain had not fought before, and different tactical maneuvers already began formulating in Robin's head. He still hoped he would have Raven back before any official confrontations with his nemesis, but if he had to, then he would use Mas and Menos to the best advantage he could.
"Agreed," Robin said, to which Bumblebee gave a sigh of relief. "We'll arrange the details later. For now, you and your team should recuperate."
"Sure thing. Over and out."
The screen went blank, and Robin dropped his head to stare at the console. He was sure he was making the right decision here, but something about it suddenly bothered him nonetheless. Maybe he shouldn't be sending Raven alone to do this. She was fully capable of a solo mission, and it wasn't like this technically was a solo mission since the Titans East were going to be there, but this was Malchior after all. Robin couldn't know exactly what Raven had gone through with the betrayal or if she had completely gotten over it. She acted indifferent and said it meant nothing, but that was Raven being Raven. When had she ever been completely forthcoming, even with herself, about something that bothered her?
His brow furrowed. No, this had to be the right decision. Not only did Robin have to stay in Jump City to capture Slade, but Raven had said she would take care of Malchior, and he shouldn't doubt her.
He looked over his shoulder and saw that Starfire's lesson was over, and the other three Titans were staring back at him.
"Dude! You're going to send Raven out there alone?" Beast Boy incredulously asked, waving his hands wildly. "Hel-lo! Don't you remember last time? Malchior totally tricked her!"
Robin frowned. Surely Beast Boy could not be implying that Raven would be tricked again. They all knew her better than to think such a thing of her.
"I am sure that our friend will not fall for his trickery twice," Starfire gently commented, following Robin's line of thought.
"No, she won't," Robin affirmed with a confident shake of his head as he joined the other three. "And she was the only one who could stop him. If the Herald's interdimensional tactic didn't work, then it's up to Raven to stop Malchior once and for all. And we can't all go. We're needed here."
He knew they would assume he was referring only to the crime spike with his last sentence, and he didn't want to clarify that he was referring to Slade's possible involvement. That theory would remain unspoken until Robin could undoubtedly confirm his suspicions.
"I didn't mean to say she'd fall for it again," Beast Boy said, blushing and self-consciously rubbing the back of his neck. "I just meant that she might not be happy about seeing him."
"C'mon, what're you so worried about?" Cyborg blithely asked, elbowing Beast Boy in the side. "You know Raven can handle herself. So what if the giant lizard tricked her once? She beat him, and she's about to do it twice." He held up two fingers in Beast Boy's face for emphasis and beamed a smile.
"Yes!" Starfire eagerly agreed, pumping her fist in the air. "Our Raven will unleash the kicking of the butt and will defeat the Malchior once and for all!"
The three began what could only be described as a prediction and early celebration of Raven's victory, and Robin's mind tuned them out as it wandered.
History might not always repeat itself, but the past does have a way of coming back, he thought, alternately considering Raven's personal vendetta and his own.
Hopefully this would be the last time for both of them, and the past would finally stay as history.
Why was Malchior making a reappearance anyway, and in Steel City, no less? It didn't make sense. If the dragon had finally managed to obtain his full freedom, then why would he risk showing up in a city with a base of heroes stationed there? He had to be after something, something that he believed was located somewhere in that particular city. What more a dragon could possibly want past the next meal, Robin wouldn't even attempt to guess, but that was also why this wasn't his mission. Robin could deal with alien foes, mutated monsters, villains with too much time on their hands, and infamous masterminds, but he knew nothing about fantastical creatures or anything magic. The problem of Malchior was fully in Raven's hands, and Robin had full confidence that those were good hands to leave it in. He needn't worry any more about it.
With that dismissal, Robin's thoughts invariably turned back to the matter of Slade. There had to be something in the recent string of crimes that would point to him, and Robin was determined to find it. Slade had escaped for the last time when he had escaped death, and as far as Robin was concerned, the villain should have learned something and high-tailed it to the other side of the world. Not that geography would stop Robin, but it might have given Slade a chance.
AN: Foreshadowing and red herrings ftw! : ) Oh yes, I am sure that the chapter has mislead you all from where this is going. : ) And I know what some of you are thinking, "Oh that's cheating to move Mas and Menos elsewhere just because you can't speak the language!" Well, I figured it would be more forgiveable for me to give those two characters somewhere else to be than to massacre the Spanish language any further. : ) Same with Starfire, too. Trying to copy her speech pattern just about drove me crazy.
Anyways, I really would like to finish this story since I've already put so much work into it. I mean, I've already got most of the plot line, subplots, and sketches of several scenes written out, so it would be a shame for all of that to go to waste. As I said before, however, life is just being rather unkind at the moment, so I don't know what's going to happen. At the very least, I have even less time on my hands now, so I'm not going to be able to do all the additional research etc. to try to make the characters as little OOC as possible. Sorry!
Just in case, maybe you guys would like to help me out a little with some character profiles? There isn't much exposure to the Titans East, so I'm trying to get a good grasp on their personalities. This is all I have so far (I know it's not much, but I've been busy), so if you'd like to correct and/or add characteristics that I've missed, please do so.
Bumblebee:
• softer accent than Cyborg's, mostly coming out when she's angry or excited
• not as strict as Robin, but she can come across kind of bossy
• kind and friendly, always ready to help
• definitely concerned about looking out for other people
• generally optimistic
• willing to do what it takes to get something done
Aqualad:
• has a sense of maturity, but he can also be brought down to the lowest common denominator, so to speak (i.e. Speedy's level) ; )
• ready and willing to work
• good team player, doesn't mind working with others or being told what to do
• more interested in getting things done than in competition, but he can be competitive if led to it
• kind and friendly
• can be obstinate
Speedy:
• generally pessimistic, though perhaps not quite cynical
• obviously has an attitude and tends to be cocky, prideful, and narcissistic
• sarcastic
• can be serious according to the situation
• prefers to do what he wants, but is willing to work with the team (if reluctantly, at times)
• Okay, I gather from additional research that he's a bit of a flirt and that he has a past history with drugs (should I include this in his character?)