Slumber

My eyes open just in time to catch the hands of the clock click, pointing straight up.

Midnight.

It seems darker than it should be. Winter clouds obscure the night stars. The cold and snow calm the flow of activity in the city. I should sleep very well on a night like this. But...

I can't. So I sit up, slip my feet into my slippers, and go to my bookcase. I know where each book is, so it's not as if the darkness is hindering me as I scan over the shelves. But, as strange as it is, I feel an ever-so-rare craving for light and sound. Perhaps a lullaby of infomercials and trashy late night movies will cure this sudden insomnia.

I peek out my head, as if I have any reason to sneak about, and go to the living room.

Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've watched TV this late at night. And it's the first time I've ever been out in the living room this late.

And all too late do I remember the exact number of steps.

I catch myself in mid-fall and wait a moment longer for my eyes to adjust to the pitch black. I think it's a reasonable assumption that the dark blob in from of me is the couch, so I run my along it, guiding myself around to the front. And as I sit down...

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AAAHHHHH!"

A bright flash of color blinds me, and a symphony of screams threatens to wake the dead, not to mention everyone in the Tower.

I sat on the remote. Well, that problem solved, at least.

I fumble with it, the volume bar dropping as I hastily pound on the respective button. I blink a few times, the afterimage not burned quite as deeply as I thought.

What in the world is Peewee's Playhouse doing on at this hour?

I casually flip around. A forensics show would appease morbid little me at the moment.

My ineptness with the remote manifests itself as I end up changing the channel to something...that is most certainly not a forensics show. Even though there's no one to see, I frantically pound random buttons and hope I don't change the channel to something worse. Thankfully, I seem to have landed on a late night news program.

But not before Terra sees what just happened.

I can see her reflection on the screen. She's in a t-shirt and sweatpants, blanket draped on her shoulders, staring at the screen with mouth wide open.

Or is she staring at me?

I sink a little. As I hold the remote in my hands, it seems nearly twice its size now. And it's laughing at me. And all I can do is shrink in my seat and hope to hide from the world.

"Was that softcore porn?"

And I fail at that.

"That looked like softcore porn."

I look at Terra and the reflection of her growing grin, then I stare at the remote.

Oh, if only inanimate objects could feel pain...

"I was looking for dead bodies." I drone.

Her snickering leaks out from her lips as she approaches.

"Then why-"

"I hit the wrong button. There are so many buttons on this monstrosity."

She sits next to me, pulling up her legs and wrapping herself up in a blanket cocoon.

And she's staring. Just staring with a huge smile.

"Seriously. I was looking for a forensics show, it's dark...look at the size of this thing. Why are there so many buttons? Does it really need all these buttons?"

If her smile gets any bigger, her head is going to split in half.

"Alright," I sigh, "I'll say it. Yes, I was watching pornography, and you interrupted my hour long session of pleasuring myself. Curses and damnation."

Finally, the laughter she's been holding back breaks through.

"I know you're kidding..." she squeezes out, "But...oh man...you...do you even have those kinds of feelings?"

"What kind of feelings?"

"Y'know..." she nudges, "Those kind..."

I wordlessly flip through the channels.

"You...do feel, uh...those kind of things, right?"

Not a word.

"Oh yeah. Your powers are controlled by emotion, so...hey! I can totally help you with that!"

I...just have to look at her.

"What?"

"NO! Oh, no! I mean..."

She pauses for a moment, perhaps trying to gauge my blank expression.

"Forget I said anything."

I continue flipping through channels, not entirely sure what I'm looking for.

"Man, I've gotten soft."

"Hmm?"

"I was never this sensitive to the cold before. Guess I've been living in a real home for too long. Isn't the cold getting to you?"

"I rather like the cold, actually. But I can turn up the heat, if you want."

"That's okay. I like snuggling up in my blanket."

She suddenly blushes.

"That sounds kiddy, doesn't it?"

"A little."

I pause a moment in my search for nothing in particular.

"What's it like?"

"What? You mean...snuggling up?"

"Uh...yeah."

A few seconds pass.

"It's...snuggly...and warm..."

I change the channel one last time, ending up on an old black and white movie.

"So...can't sleep?"

"Nope."

"I'm guessing it's because of Fang."

Terra grimaces at the mention of the name.

"That guy...was just wrong. I'm not a big fan of spiders."

"That certainly explains why you hurled sizable chunks of earth at him and screamed 'Die, spider, die!'."

She shudders.

"I had flashbacks. I was camping out this one time, and I felt something tickling my leg, and...the hairiest tarantula in the desert was crawling on my leg! Up my leg, up my shorts! And...and it got in my shorts! And I wasn't wearing any underwear!"

I blink.

"I threw off my shorts, and I ran around, bare butt naked from the waist down while some perv spider made a nest out of my shorts!"

We turn to the sudden giggling behind us.

"Forgive me! I...hehe...I did not mean to...to drop the ease!"

A nightshirt clad Starfire tries not to spill the contents of her mug as she struggles to control her giggling.

"Hey, Star! Heh. Kinda turning into a slumber party, isn't it?"

"But we are not slumbering, nor is there celebration."

"No, it's not like that. Raven's never..."

Terra pauses, remembering I'm Raven, and Raven doesn't do slumber parties.

"Oh, right. So, whatcha doin' up?"

"Only recently have I realized this is the first time I have witnessed the winter season of this planet. Witnessing this marvelous transition in the environment has filled me with excitement, thus making it difficult for me to acquire sleep. I have tried drinking heated bovine lactations, but..."

"Wait..." I say, "The last time you drank warm milk..."

She jumps over the couch and clutches us both to her bosom like a child's beloved dolls.

"Yes!" she gleefully squeals, "It has the opposite of the desired effect, making me increasingly active, increasing my desire for social interaction and loosening inhibitions! Oh, I am so glad you two are awake!"

"Loosening inhibitions?" whispers Terra.

"She's...a little tipsy." I whisper back, "Hyper and tipsy."

"Friends! Would you like to join me in n-"

"NO! You aren't doing...that again."

"Doing what?"

I cast a gaze over at Starfire.

"Nude flying."

Terra...just looks at me.

"You...don't mean..."

"Yes!" says Starfire with a eager grin on her lips, "Flying nude!"

"Yeah. Still not happening, Starfire."

I...should probably explain this to Terra.

"She was new here. She didn't know it's not socially acceptable to fly around naked in the middle of the night."

"Or shower together!" giggles Starfire.

...I couldn't just stay in my room, could I?

"So..." Terra says after a suspiciously long pause, "Why are you up, Raven?"

"Aside from reveling in the implied lesbianism, I don't really know. I just couldn't sleep."

Terra and I look at Starfire, who looks ready to burst with rapid flow of noise and nonsense.

"They're coming to get you, Barbara!"

But then our attention snaps to the television screen.

"Night of the Living Dead." I say.

"The original black and white version." Terra adds.

Neither of us notice Starfire look at us inquisitively and loosen her grip.

"Could you make some popcorn, Star?" ask Terra

"It's in the second cupboard, middle shelf." I point out.

She looks a little dejected that we aren't paying attention to her (not that we notice), but she nods and complies.

"So you're not sustained solely by tea." Terra mutters, much more focused on the movie than her joke.

"Mm hmm." I answer.

And then we both fall silent. There's the sound of popcorn popping in the background, followed by Starfire giggling as her nightshirt flies over the couch and lands on the coffee table, but we don't notice.

And I don't notice the blanket someone puts on me as I drift to sleep, or whose lap I use as a pillow. I don't notice at all.

Then morning comes...

"STARFIRE!"