Ah! The weeks are getting away from me! I need to sit down and write more! Okay, here's your next chapter. Wish me luck in my writing, and tell me what you think! I don't own Teen Titans.
Ronald didn't mind his personal job. Before he had been sent to fetch the shape shifter from his room, the Master had told him to watch the interaction between the two pets and see if there was anything in their relationship they needed to work on. So far he hadn't seen much that needed help. They were slightly dysfunctional, but in a way that worked for the couple. Once their little group started down the hall they walked side by side and didn't waver from the middle, not daring one step away from each other.
Master started talking, telling them about his home and naming the different types of pets he kept here, and the green one started getting angry. He didn't seem to agree with things being kept in cages. But before he could open his mouth, the girl grabbed his hand to keep him quiet. He didn't let go for the rest of the tour.
"You know when I had Ronald leave you in the hallway?" the Master asked the shape shifter over his shoulder. "It's probably better you didn't run away." He waved a hand at the wall and it rippled away to form a window. Both of the teens gasped at the great expanse of space they saw before them. Stars floated in the distance, shedding light on far away planets neither had seen before. The girl stepped back half behind the boy and Ronald saw his grip tighten on her hand. He suddenly realized, they were talking without words. Reassuring each other that the other was there for them, and wouldn't let anything happen. The gecko licked his eyes in interest and watched them more closely.
He had heard this speech at least a thousand times before. His boss would take his new animals around the space ship and explain to them how their new lives would work. But this time Ronald decided that rather paying attention to the words themselves, he would watch what kind of affect they had on the pair walking before him.
"This ship, which is really more like a man-made planet, is made completely out of one, large, shifting computer. If I wave my hand at a wall and think 'door' a door will appear. If I want a window, that will appear, although I don't see what you would need a window for since your cage is in the middle of the ship," he looked over his shoulder and smiled at them. "You won't have much but the other animals to look at."
The boy bumped his shoulder against the girl lightly. It didn't look like much, and it wasn't a conscience gesture, but he could see a little bit of tension go out of the boy's shoulders when he pulled away.
"Now, when you're put in your cage don't bother walking up to a wall and saying 'door' or 'gate' or 'hole' or anything like that. We've already had those restricted, so you can't request one. However, if you want a seat, or a bed somewhere just wave your arm and say it. And don't bother ramming it either, as I'm sure you've already tried. No one in my zoo has been able to break it yet, and people are starting to say it's indestructible. Pretty nifty, huh?"
After an awkward pause they both realized they needed to agree and so murmured their softly and the Master smiled. They all stopped at a blank wall and the Master waved his hand again. A heavy metal door appeared and the group stepped through. On the other side was a small platform overlooking a large room, about a mile on all sides. The walls were made of yard-long squares of white glass, similar to what was in the hall.
"Now this room is made of something slightly different to what's in the hallway. It's a bit more complex, but still just as hard to break. The reason the technology is more complicated is so we can make a good environment easily. Just as I was able to make a window in the hall, I can make grass, or a tree, or water in here. I can shift the floor and ceiling to a certain degree to make hills or valleys and everything that grows here is one hundred percent organic. The man who made it said something about storing elements or quarks under the tiles. Some technical mumbo jumbo I didn't understand, but once I saw it I knew I had to have it!" He waved his hand into the open space and ripples went down the walls, across the floor and ceiling, all the way to the other side of the room. And every panel left in their wake burst into motion, sprouting trees, or turning to stone, growing flowers, and revealing grass. It was like watching a small world be birthed.
They both didn't move as the room came to life below them, but both their mouths opened in awe. Then they both shifted to touch shoulders again, their hands tightening.
The platform they were standing on smoothly moved down the wall, bringing them closer to the ground. Once they hit bottom the edge slid open and they all stepped out onto lush, green grass. They continued walking in the small forest until they came across a cottage. It was a small thing, made of whole logs and laced with flowering ivy and honey suckles. Walking inside it hardly had room for all five of them. In the main area there was a small, two-person table, a loveseat, and a fireplace. There was a small room off the main area with a bed in it.
"We've got some odd rules in this area, but it's all for your own good," the Master explained motioning to the bed. "For one, you have to share a bed. I know, it's a little strange, but it's so we monitor your breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, and all that, while you're asleep to make sure you're not getting sick. Second, you'll notice there's no shower or bathtub. There's a pebble-bottomed pond with a small waterfall not far from here were I'll have you bathe. It's specially treated water, and making it go through pipes and to a sink and tub would dilute the substance because of the contact with metal. Finally, when we serve you your food, you must eat together, for the same reason you're sleeping in the same bed. If you disobey any of these rules, the room with discipline you. I won't explain what that means, but you'll understand when you see . . . if you see . . ." He looked at the couple again and smiled.
Through the whole of this speech they stayed together and didn't move, afraid to break contact. The shape shifter was still staring out the window in shock, but the empath was staring at the Master oddly, as if she was trying to figure something out.
"You said as soon as our own rooms are done being readied you'll put us in there?" she asked. Ronald could almost see the wheels in her head turning.
The Master smiled, "of course, although I'm afraid it might take a few weeks, maybe even a month or two. These types of tiles are quite useful to use, but they're heck to make! I'll release you as soon as it's done!"
The girl nodded her head, but the pensive look didn't leave her face.
"Now! What do you say we celebrate your new room with a good dinner and I'll leave you two alone?" the Master clapped his hands and the small table sank into the floor then rose again, bearing three plates of food. The shape shifter moved to one, but the Master stopped him.
"I apologize, I forgot to mention one last thing. We monitored your eating while you were free and have altered our food thus. So your food, young Changeling, will be completely vegetarian. You were about to eat the empath's food, which has beef in it."
Beast Boy paused for a moment, staring at the Master, trying to figure out what to say, but Raven brushed by him and took the seat he was going to sit it, prompting him to move to the seat with a salad in front of it.
Once they all sat down in their seats the Master nodded his head at Ms. Fantoccini to leave. I sank into the background and watched as my boss started trying to bond the two pets eating with him.
Sending you all love