FL-FLASH!
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RUMMMMMBBBBLE!.!.!.!
"OHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Starfire moans behind me.
My forehead pulses. Sitting by the rain-streaked window, I flip a page in my book and shine the flashlight on the latest chapter of my horror story that I'm reading.
Beyond me and the window, the soaked City lights up intermittently with loud booming noises, courtesy of Mother Nature.
"OhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHhhhhhh...," Starfire continues to moan under the thunder.
"Starfire... ...Will you please stop making those whining noises?"
"When will the power turn back onnnnnnnnnnn?" she whimpers.
"It's not the Tower's decision when or if the power will turn back on--
"IF?"
"Relax, Starfire. The power's out because of the storm. We're in the tallest, sturdiest building in the entire City. A fortress--more or less. We are FINE here."
"But I most assuredly do not feel the 'fine'!" she bites her lip.
FL-FLASH!
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RUMMMMM-MMMMMBLE!
"Ohhhhh!" She hugs a couch pillow to her chest and scrunches into the depths of the room's furniture. "Why must meteorological storms on Terra Firma be so hideously frightening?"
"You get used to it...," I murmur and flip another page, shining my flashlight. "...in fact...you grow to like it."
"Hmmm? But Raven, how can someone grow to admire something so frightening?"
"It's rather simple really."
"Is it a matter of masochistic passion?"
I sigh. "No."
"Then what--pray X'Hal tell--empowers an individual to develop a passion for that which threatens our very well-being?"
"What many people tend to forget--Star--is that language doesn't hold a very clear definition between 'fear' and 'exaltation'."
"Huh?" she blinks sheepishly from behind the pillow.
FL-FLASH!
RUMMMMBLE!
"Eeep!" She hids her face.
I look over towards her and murmur: "Humankind has learned to both worship and fear that which is unknown. Does it make our lives any easier or safer? Probably not. But if we live everyday and night in total despair, we are hardly living at all."
"You mean to convey---?"
"I mean to convey that the scary things in life help us remember that we are living to begin with. How can one define light without darkness? Or peace of mind without chaos?"
Starfire nervously manages a smile. "O-Or Robin's gentle laughter without his ill-tempered yell!"
I blink at her. "Excuse me?"
"Erm...," she blushes and hides again.. ... ...this time for a different reason. "N-Nothing!"
"... ... ... ...whatever...," I turn back to my book, turn a page, and murmur into the flashlight's glow. "I happen to like storms, and I'm not ashamed of that."
"Then wh-what is it that you are afraid of, Raven?"
"I don't do fear."
Starfire leans her head to the side. "But did you not just confess that life with hardship and uncertainty is most clearly and positively defined--?"
"Just because I don't fear doesn't mean there isn't a certain level of darkness in my life," I murmur.
FL-FLASH!
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RUMMMMMBLE!
I go on as Starfire flinches.
"There are plenty of things in my life to fear--Okay, a lot of things. But I like to think that I've grown accustomed, wary, and wise enough to accept such things with good measure and to prepare my life rather than set it up for a fall."
"Y-You speak of your emotions... ... ..of the darkness attached to your powers?"
"I simply mean to say that--at this point in my life...," I narrow my eyes and focus on my book. "... ...it would take an awful lot to scare me--"
THWOMP!
A wet, green, pointy-eared, furry thing slams up against the window right beside me from the outside. FLASSSH!
"DUDES!" (RUMMMBLE!) "YOU GOTTA HELP ME! I'M STUCK OUTSIDE THE TOWER AND IT'S RAINING CATS AND DOGS! LITERALLY! LIKE ME!"
"AAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAH!" I shriek. My blue hair does a twirl and--
POWWW!
My chair explodes and I'm tossed across the room and into Starfire's unwitting body.
Wh-Whump!
"EEK!"
"OOF!"
Th-THWUMP! We form a tangled girl-pile on the floor. Strobe-lit by the rumbling maelstrom outside.
"DUDES? GIRLS?" Beast Boy murmurs as he slides down the outside glass, forming a wet streakin in the rain. "SERIOUSLY. LIKE, I CAN'T GET IN. WILL YOU PLEASE HELP--GUYS? YAAAH!" He slides out of view.
"... ... ... ... ... ...Friend Raven?"
"... ... ... ...Yes, Star?"
"... ... ... ...I want you to know that--because we are both not only trusted companions but also mature members of the same sex--I hold no hostility towards your accidental contact with my grebnaks at this moment..."
"... ... ... ..."
"B-But I would be very much appreciative if you were to attempt rising up from your entanglement with me."
"... ... ...uh...r-right, Star...I am sorry..."
"Do not feel obligated to apologize, Raven. May I ask... ...are you damaged?"
"Uh..."
"Hmmm?"
"I f-fear for my underpants..."