December. Alien territory p.2

They Five showed up to the party at nine-ish. Kitty's house was an imposing manor painted bright pink, which effectively made it look like only Kitty lived there, or at least only she made all the executive decisions for the house.

"Whoa, she got a chocolate fountain," noted Vic once they were inside.

Gar pouted. There was no way to make sure the flowing chocolate was vegan, so he wouldn't be enjoying that. He lingered behind with the girls as Victor and Dick went for the fountain.

"This is so barbaric," he heard Raven say, and followed her eyesight to a torn and stained Terrance school flag hanging across the big staircase, which people made the point to throw drinks and food at.

Maybe just because she'd pointed it out, Gar picked up a near-empty red cup from a window sill. "When in Rome," he said as he took aim for the flag under her disapproving gaze.

Dick spent the party not drinking and keeping himself aware of where Kitty was at all times. Because of that, he noticed some things. The popular kids were all in uniform –cheerleaders wore their outfit and football players wore their letterman jackets-, and Dick couldn't help but notice how they kept making out among each other, then switching over to other popular people.

He pointed it out to Vic. "It's like an incestuous royalty scheme to keep the line clean."

Vic said, "I thought of bored middle-aged people swapping partners to spice things up."

Raven unfortunately ran into Jenny at one point.

Jen was in the middle of inspecting a vase –Raven didn't know if she was planning to steal or break it-, and Raven couldn't back away before the sharp-eyed girl located her, and grinned at her. "How'd you find out about this party?"

"Kitty invited us."

"You got invited? Aren't you fancy!" returned Jen, and walked away with the vase, holding it high in one hand.

Kori knew Dick wasn't drinking, so she herself didn't want to drink much; she didn't want to feel self-conscious if she got sloppy and Dick was sober. She got herself a single beer she intended to make last throughout the party, and walked through the house trying to think of where to fit in.

"I recognize the lack of glassy eyes and lost expression when I see it," a girl's voice said near her, and it took Kori a moment to realize she was talking to her. "You're also not drinking?"

The girl had bright blue hair with an undercut. Kori trusted her nice smile and smiled back. "I do not want to be very drunk."

"I just hate the taste of alcohol, I'm not having anything," the girl said.

"You do not go to Murakami High, do you?" Kori asked. Kids from their school approached them differently. No one could keep from mentioning the Club in some way: either they opened with a thank-you-for-the-work-you-do or a semi-sarcastic 'I'm your fan' line.

The girl struck a grin, eyes twinkling. "Why? You think you'd remember me?"

Kori laughed, looking away. "Your hair is very cool," she said, while she wondered at one point one should clarify that one only liked boys—that one only liked a particular boy.

The girl complimented Kori's hair in turn, and then said, "You wanna try that chocolate fountain?"

"Sure!" replied Kori, letting herself use a colloquial interjection on the grounds that she probably wouldn't see that girl again.

Gar found Vic and tried to convince him to chat up cheerleaders as a duo. "It'll be easier if we team up! We'll wing-man each other!"

But Vic told him he didn't want to pick up a cheerleader.

"Wait, that's right, you have Bee now," Gar replied.

"I don't have Bee," said Victor, and it struck him as such an immature thing to think—to think you automatically had a girl after talking semi-flirtingly for a day. Sometimes he really felt the distance of Gar being a little younger than him, or else Gar was made younger by rightfully acting like someone who'd never had a girlfriend before. Or maybe Vic was sensitive he and Bee hadn't even exchanged phone numbers. He'd kicked himself about that many times in the last few weeks. "It's not that. I've sworn off cheerleaders," he said, which wasn't untrue. "You know, after Marcy."

Gar looked unexpectedly insulted. "Well that's a fucking luxury. Swearing off cheerleaders. I'm off to get sworn in cheerleaders." He downed his drink and left Vic his empty cup.

Kori was leaving the bathroom when she overheard Fang and Adam talking.

"…No, no, I wanna be in a Jade and Raven sandwich," Adam was saying in his boisterous voice.

Because she was tuned in to that conversation, she heard Fang's soft voice –which stuck her as creepy just then- softer voice say he preferred the combination of Kori and Kitty.

Kori felt hot all over –in a bad way. They hadn't seemed to realize the object of their ruminations was near them, so she took the chance to slip away.

When she found Raven, she was doing her usual thing—moving through the party like she was the only person there, observing the partygoers with a drink in her hand, looking right at home.

Kori grabbed her and told her what she'd heard. Raven's response was simply to grimace in disgust. Then she took Kori's hand and took her to the dance floor.

Among the dancing bodies it was crowded as well as sweaty, but somehow space was carved out for them. The music was louder here, and the bass Kori had been working to avoid for most of the party was now unavoidable, so she embraced it instead.

Time slowed down; she was only conscious of Raven in front of her and a few recurring swirling bodies around them. As she mirrored Raven's movements, Kori took a moment to marvel at the scene they were setting: in the past Raven would have never done this, and now here they were, a united front, Raven taking her out to dance. Kori felt glad of the dangly necklace she'd picked to wear, which was now swinging in time with the music, and she shook her head and felt her curls hit her face.

She felt like she finally understood what they were doing here: it was all for this moment of ease and thrill. This was a party. This was what it was all about.

The next morning, Raven emerged from Dick's living room where they had all crashed and went for the kitchen, where she found too much light and Gar already up.

"Finally," he said. "It's so weird to be the first one up! I-"

He stopped talking because Raven held up a hand and closed her eyes tight.

"Sorry," he whispered. Gar wondered just how much eye makeup she had on that there were dark shadows under her eyes and still a bunch of black on her actual eyelids.

She went upstairs, presumably to a bathroom. She came back down clean-faced and only then spoke to him.

"Why don't you get hungover? It's so unfair."

"It's my superpower," he grinned. "You want breakfast?"

She made a face as she sat to the kitchen island. "I don't think I can keep food down."

"Do you mind if I make myself something? Like, do you think you'd mind the smell?"

Maybe it was because she felt crappy and vulnerable, but she was touched by his gentleness. He was still whispering. And he may not have made himself breakfast if she said she minded. She struggled to produce an impersonal, "No, that's fine."

"Good, 'cause I'm craving chocolate since the fountain last night."

She opened her eyes at the sound of packages crinkling. He was opening a chocolate bar and a bag of marshmallows, presumably about to make himself a hot chocolate. Only then did she notice the foreign plastic bag on the counter, like he'd been to a vegan store and back before anyone woke up. And Raven didn't even feel like she could get up from her chair. She stayed plopped down with her head on her palms as the other three slowly trickled into the room.

Dick opened all the window panes when he came out, like he thought they could all use the fresh air. "It's wet outside," he commented when he came back.

"Yeah, it was raining at like five am," Vic confirmed. "I know 'cause I was up puking."

Gar said, "I heard that."

"The rain or the puking?" quizzed Raven.

"You should have woken someone up if you were puking," said Dick.

Victor ignored them in favor of peering at Gar. "You didn't hear were out cold." He remembered seeing him on the couch, face down and snoring.

Gar said, "I know, just saying I heard it."

And the half-asleep conversation about nothing turned into a huge thing, where Vic wanted to yell at Gar to admit he hadn't heard the rain and Gar was adamant he had, and everyone else wanted them to drop it because it was making everyone's headache worse.

"You said whatever and now keep lying to cover it, just admit it," said Vic, who was hissing where he'd normally be shouting, and even hissing sounded like shouting in his head.

"Dude, I can't help that I heard the rain, I'm a light sleeper."

Kori tried to reason with Vic. "Victor. You are only hurting yourself and us. Gar does not headache but you and we do." She had forgotten her resolve not to drink after she'd ran into Raven at the party, and now was hungover too. (At one point after Raven she'd ran into Dick, who was still freshly sober, and she'd danced with him too, but she only remembered flashes of it. She was still trying to fish for moments in her memory, and the argument was working against her.)

"Exactly," reinforced Dick, who was getting a headache from the argument alone.

But Vic only let it go when Gar's attention was driven away from the argument—Raven finally managed to get up and asked Dick if she could make a hangover cure on his kitchen.

Dick said, "Sure, go ahead."

"Can you make it vegan?" Gar asked. "Pretty please?"

Raven peered at him and his empty mug of chocolate—he'd also bought cookies from the store and devoured those. "Why? You're not hungover."

"I still want the potion!"

"It's not a potion," she said. "It's just ginger chai with lemon and honey."

She took out four cups. Gar refused to take the hint—he got up, washed his used cup and put it next to the others. Raven didn't acknowledge it, but filled all five cups when she was done anyway.

Gar drank. It tasted sweet and… deep. Like there was a lot to it. Why was it that Raven couldn't fry an egg without burning it, but was right at home with drinks and potions? He almost commented on it, but she looked so soft and tired, it felt wrong to tease her.

After everyone complimented and enjoyed their drinks, Raven picked up her bag to leave. "I'm going home for a while so I'm allowed to go out again tonight."

"Mission meeting at five," Dick reminded her.

"Okay," said Raven. She looked at her friends: only Dick wasn't out of commission; Vic and Kori still looked sick, Gar was staring blankly at the distance, like tiredness had caught up with him. If we make it, she thought.

Raven's street was empty at nine am on a Saturday. She was about to cross the street to her house when a little voice said,

"Hey Raven."

And stopped her in her tracks. Melvin was sitting on the porch of the house across the street from Azarath.

"Hey Melvin." Raven noticed the pink backpack and little pink umbrella sitting by the girl's feet. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for my mom to get here."

"Are you locked out of your house?" Raven asked.

"Yeah…"

Raven felt an onslaught of protectiveness that surprised her. "Do you want me to call your mom for you?" she offered.

"She's already on her way. I got out of church too early. The mom whose turn it was to carpool dropped me off, but mom has to go pick up my brothers, so she won't be back for a while." Melvin cocked her head. "Don't you think I should have a key, since I get out early really often?"

"Your parents are probably scared you'll lose it," Raven said, noncommittally.

She surprised herself by going to sit next to Melvin on the porch, and was immediately rewarded by her smiling. Raven had felt like Melvin had been chattering on to keep her around; she proved it when the little girl was suddenly relaxed and gratified.

"So, what? You were supposed to get out of church service at nine?"

"It's First Communion classes," Melvin corrected. "It's from seven to nine, but it always ends early."

"You have to wake up that early on a Saturday? That sucks."

"What were you doing at my age on a Saturday?"

Raven was going straight home from school and school from home when she was nine. Her mother hadn't yet let her start going to the temple for Bala Vihar classes; she never let Raven out of her sight unless she absolutely had to, so she preferred Raven hung out in Azarath with the priests and priestesses. "Well, I helped out in the charity next door a lot. But not from seven am on a Saturday," she told Melvin. "So where are your brothers?"

"Tommy's at daycare, Timmy's got soccer practice until nine too," said Melvin. "Maybe I'll join a club this year too. Then I don't have to leave school till four and mom can pick both me and Timmy up then."

"What club would you join?"

"The dance team!" Melvin sprang up. "I have a routine for tryouts and everything! Wanna see?"

Raven found herself smiling. "Sure."

As she watched Melvin do her dance routine, Raven realized all over again she was sitting there on that porch. Who was this older-sisterly person waiting with the neighbor kid until their parents came home? She was a better person than Raven was.

Melvin smiled as she danced, and Raven's thoughts turned to wondering if she'd ever been that free as a child—Melvin laughed, danced around, made conversation, trusted people. Raven still wasn't that open with the world now. That must be where her protective feelings came from; she didn't want anything to ruin the pure childhood experience Melvin seemed to be enjoying.

The little girl sat down next to her when she was done with her routine. "Raven, are you ever gonna babysit us again?"

"You still don't have a babysitter?" Raven replied, taken aback.

"We do, but she's not nice to us like you are. She just ignores us. And when she doesn't, she orders us around."

"I'm not actually a babysitter," Raven explained, as wondered what kind of babysitter from hell their mother managed to find that Melvin thought she was 'nice' in comparison. "That one time… there was just no one else to take care of you guys."

"But you did a good job! Look, do you have a job?"

"Um… no."

"So why don't you take up babysitting?"

Raven nearly chuckled. She couldn't argue with that solid logic. "I guess I'd never thought about it."

Melvin jumped to Raven, pulled on her arm. "Please, think about it? Pleeease?"

"…Well I can't just take the job from your new babysitter," Raven reminded her, and Melvin seemed to see the sense in that; she relented and looked quietly disappointed in a way that hurt Raven's heart.

It was a few more minutes before Melvin's mom came home. Mrs. Tanner stalked straight to the door, kind of smiled at Raven, saying "Oh, hi," in a tone that made Raven kind of hate her. Why was she so flippant about leaving her kid locked outside of her house, seemingly as a habit?

In contrast, Timmy exploded when he saw Raven, and captured her in a long hug before his mom unlocked the door and called both children in; Melvin was rapidly talking to her mother and Raven couldn't make out her words over Timmy telling Raven about his day, or the baby babbling as he reached for Raven's hair from his mother's grasp.

When the door closed, the sudden silence was dislocating.

Raven thought about Melvin's words. She thought about the way the boys had brightened when they saw her. All three reactions spoke of a different recollection of the night she took care of them than the one Raven had. Had she been a good babysitter to them? For her part, she thought she'd been floundering. What about her yelling at Timmy and her lack of patience? What about her helplessness with the baby? What about not being able to engage in Melvin's conversation from being overwhelmed by everything else?

But if Raven really were to consider this, what would Arella say? Raven could clearly imagine her mother's worried face, her tremulous voice going, Babysitting, Raven? Children are so intense. It might upset you. Do you really think you can handle it? So she laid the thought to rest and went on home.

"Okay, the party host is a Rose Worth," Dick related. Despite Raven's worst predictions, they had successfully met at his house at five. "She runs Terrance High."

The wording made Kori look up. She considered, decided the wording was odd, and went ahead in asking. "How does a kid run a school? Is she not a teen like us?"

"Apparently, we at Murakami are under a benevolent reign with Jade," Dick said. "And ignorant of the scope of what a real queen bee could get to be."

"You know what, that tracks," said Vic. "I've heard horror stories about that school. Apparently even the teachers bow to Rose."

"Such a pretty name for an evil hottie." Gar's comment was met with silence. It made him peer at his friends. "I mean I bet she's hot."

"Yeah, we bet you do," Vic said impatiently.

"There's another thing, guys," said Dick. "I just found the house on Street View, and it's two stories."

"…So?" posed Raven.

"So we have to consider the possibility Butter the Goat might be on the second floor. And figure out what the hell we're gonna do if he is. We might end up having to break him out through a window."

"We're gonna swing down a window with a goat on arms?" asked Raven.

"That's what I mean." Dick thought. "More like swing only the mascot down."

"Uh, we've been through this?" said Gar. "Remember the grappling hook from last year? We'll just use that."

"But we can't," said Vic. "That time we climbed down the building. We can use the principle again, but we'll be lowering dead weight."

"We're gonna have to test it out," said Dick.

And that was exactly what Gar was afraid he'd say. He'd sensed where this was going for the last minute or so. The way Dick and Victor were looking at him now just confirmed it.

Minutes later, Gar was being slowly lowered out of Dick's second story window, with a rope Vic had tied around his torso as a makeshift harness. They had googled the weight of an average goat just to make sure; now Vic could say with full authority that Gar was barely heavier than a teenage goat and add that to his list of quips about him being scrawny.

Hanging parallel to the ground as his friends painstakingly lowered him, Gar's spirits only brightened when he saw Alfred walking out of the house with purpose, carrying a tray with a glass full of some sort of juice.

"You, Alfred, you're my man," Gar told him as he reached the ground and Alfred stopped before him, in perfect coordination.

Gar gave the rope a tug to signal he'd touched ground, then took the juice gratefully. Alfred was about the only person in the world Gar would accept unlabeled drinks and food from. He never needed to ask if it was vegan.

"You are my realest friend in the world right now." The rope tugged and Gar was again suspended, so he put the empty glass dutifully back on the tray. "See you on the other side."

Inside, Vic and Kori carefully pulled Gar up back into the room.

"Okay, so Vic's in charge of tying the knot," Dick surmised. Victor had been a Scout Boy; he was the only one who could tie safe enough knots. "Then Vic and Kori mainly lower Butter the goat. Either Raven or Gar or I will be on the ground to make sure everything's fine."

"And maybe fight off some Terrance kids," reminded Raven.

"Right, so maybe two people down here," agreed Dick.

Vic said, "But I need to be on the ground to bring the car around, though."

Dick frowned. "Okay, you tie the goat up and then run downstairs."

"Perhaps the mascot will be on a ground floor and we will not need to prove this," Kori.

"Perhaps, but-" A knock on the door cut Dick off, then Alfred promptly entered, with four glasses on his tray.

Victor and Kori froze, and Raven moved in front of them to cover their operation on the window. But Dick just took a glass of orange juice and said, "Thanks, Alfred." To his friends he said, "Go home and get some rest. We meet at Vic's house at sundown."

The enemy is revealed! The Five get ready! Melvin makes a business proposal!

And if the sandwich line sounds familiar? It's a homage, not a rip-off ;)

Ahem. If you look at the name Terrence, take 'Rose' into account, and use a lot of imagination, you'll probably get an idea of who's gonna be featured next chapter (plural). :)