Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. This story is really dragging on, I expected to be finished by now, not that I'm complaining.
"Muh gofa id amagah!" Beast Boy exclaims with his mouth full of food.
"Don't speak with food in your mouth." Knowledge sighs.
"Why not?" Rude shouts, spraying the yellow emoticlone with crumbs.
"That's why." She mutters, wiping off the pieces of bread.
Beast Boy and the emoticlones are sitting around a table on the beach. Affection has somehow managed to whip up a feast in half and hour flat with a bit of help from Brave and Timid.
'I wonder where she even got the ingredients from.' Wonders the changeling. 'I don't think there are any farms in Raven's mind.' He shrugs and chows down on his tofu.
And few moments pass before Timid brings up what has been on everyone's mind.
"H-How long is Raven going to take to come in here?" She whispers."Beast Boy can't stay in here forever."
"The hell not? We got everything ya could ever need in here!" Rude snaps.
"He could play with us allll the time!" Happy cries.
"Yes... "Play" Indeed." Affection purrs. Once again, Knowledge snaps her fingers in the emoticlone's face. Affection recoils slightly and looks sheepish, but doesn't retract her statement.
Rage growls. "He's got a city to protect, and friends outside of us. He can't stay and that's final." She slams her small fist against the table and black energy rolls off of it, emphasizing her reasoning.
"Sadly, Rage is correct. Beast Boy cannot remain." Knowledge sighs sadly. "We will need to inform Raven of his location at some point."
"Can't he stay a bit longer?" Sloth asks. Crumbs fall off her face. "It's not like he has anything he needs to do right now, and Rae is still looking for a cure."
"Don I geh a say in dis?" The changeling mutters.
"Of course you do." Knowledge says. "This is about you after all." She straightens her spectacles. "So, would you like us to alert Raven now, or later?"
Beast Boy mulls it over for a moment. "Latah." He decides. "I wike hangan wid you guys, I don geh to do it oftan enuf. Pwus, I'm faiwy sure Waben dodnt wet you hav meneh vistors."
The emoticlones all smile their appreciation. Beast Boy is either too kind, or just likes living dangerously.
"Well. If we're all done here, I say we make the best of the time allotted to us." Brave announces.
"Yep! Time's a wasting!" Happy agrees.
"Wheres awr we goink?" The changeling inquires to his eight, cloaked companions.
"My place! My place!" Happy squeals.
"No, mine." Rude insists.
"We've already been there." Brave sighs.
"He's already been to Happy's place before too!" Rude complains.
"Actually, he's been everywhere." Knowledge points out. "He's seen the least of Rage's realm."
"Yeah, but we're liable to be burnt to a crisp there!" Rude counters.
"No, we're not." Rage sighs. "The lava and fire is defensive, it won't hurt anyone I don't want it to. This is a mental landscape after all."
"Why didn't you say this before?!" Rude complains.
"Because I would have to deal with YOU hanging around all the time." Rage growls in anger.
"Are you saying I'm a pain?" Rude hisses.
"Indeed I am!" Rage shouts. "You're a pain in the ass!"
"That does it!" Rude lunges at the red emoticlone and they start wrestling on the table.
Knowledge sighs and the rest of the emoticlones just shake their heads.
"Id dis normah?" " Beast Boy asks weakly, pointing at the two girls.
"Quite. I'm honestly surprised it took so long." Knowledge answers. "They'll calm down in a moment, it's easier if we don't interfere."
The onlookers observe the brawl degenerate into a food fight. Rage hurls pies, and Rude chucks cheese blocks... Covered in ketchup.
Timid shrieks and takes cover behind the changeling who gets pelted with a pie right in the face. The fight stops immediately as Affection starts acting up again in response to this.
"Aww, poor Beast Boy, let me get that off for you." She whispers. Knowledge yanks back the purple emoticlone as she tries to pull a Starfire. (Take a WILD guess what that means.) Affection coughs in embarrassment. "Err, sorry about that." She hands a few napkins to a confused Beast Boy.
"I say we just go to Happy's place, it's the most comfortable." Brave suggests.
"I thought Affection's house was the best for that kinda stuff?" Sloth says in confusion. "She's got all the plushy couches and stuff."
"Along with quite a few other things we don't want our "guest" seeing." Knowledge whispers in her ear. Sloth's mouth opens into a silent "O".
"Follow meeee!" Happy cries. She cartwheels off towards who-knows-where. Everyone rolls their eyes and follows the bubbly emoticlone.
"It's a miracle she can do that considering our condition." Rude mutters, indicating Happy's cartwheels.
"It's Happy, when has anything she's done ever made sense?" Brave jokes.
"I can heeear you!" The giggling voice of Happy calls back to the surprised green emoticlone.
"Super hearing... What next, laser eyes?" Sloth says lazily.
###
"Am I really as unstable as I think?" The empath wonders aloud. "Are my powers as dangerous as I've been led to think?"
These intriguing questions swirl around in the half-demon's head as she sits on her bed, pondering Knowledge's words.
"Perhaps my father's fall eliminated some of my instability... Perhaps I'm not so unstable any more." Raven considers this. It made sense, the reason for her powers lashing out in the first place was her inner turmoil; her father's influence tried to make her act and feel one way, while her own mind told her otherwise, but with her father gone...
Raven decided to try something. She teleported to Beast Boy's room and loom around to find her target. She spotted it in a corner.
A small picture album. Beast Boy was the only one who bothered to keep more than a few photos. He was the one who insisted they be taken in the first place.
Picking up the album am floating in the air above the junk, Raven opened the book. The first picture she was presented with was a simple photo of all five Titans in front of the tower. She remembered this, it was taken when the Titans were first formed and had just beat their first challenge. The Gordanians.
Raven allowed a small smile onto her face. Nothing broke, nothing started to float, and nothing blew up. That's a good sign.
Flipping to the next page, Raven discovered that it was devoted to Cyborg. Pictures of him working out, tinkering, and playing video games. There was even a picture of just the T-Car.
The next page was for Starfire and Robin. Raven couldn't help but snort at some of Beast Boy's choices. One showed Starfire in Robin's outfit during the time he had left, another depicted the two stargazing on the roof. Taking up the entire left side of the page was a large photo of the two just after Commander Dizo's defeat. It was hard to believe that after the entire ordeal and a major romantic moment, the two STILL weren't official. How big a push do they need!?
Raven shook her head in amusement, a large smirk stole across her face. Still, nothing happened.
Deciding that the threat of a power outburst was significantly decreased, Raven made to put back the album before pausing.
She REALLY wanted to know what pictures Beast Boy had kept of her.
Flipping another page, the empath came to her desired spot. The page devoted to her was sparse, it held only three photos. There were several sticky notes that all read "reserved" in the empty spaces.
The first photo was of a moment that Raven remembered well. In the photo she had her hood down with a large, evil grin on her face. In her right hand was a stankball shrouded in dark energy. Apparently Cyborg must have snapped a shot. It was taken just after the "Malchior incident".
The second photo grated her nerves a bit. It showed her as a bunny, arms crossed. Damn Mumbo and his tricks. Why had Cyborg taken a photo of this?
The last picture was far by the most recent. It made Raven blush profusely. It was during the second Mother Mae-eye incident, when Beast Boy had been stuck as a kitten. The photo was once again taken by Cyborg, as was obvious due to his shadow over the bed. Herself and Beast Boy (in kitten form) were sleeping in the bed. The changeling was curled up against her neck and she had brought both her arms up to hold him there.
She was really going to have to "talk" with Cyborg later.
Looking around, Raven was surprised to only see a few featherweight objects floating about. It took that much emotion to get even a small reaction? Perhaps she could afford to be more open, she would still need SOME control, but it would be nice to mingle with her friends more.
Placing the album back in it's proper place, Raven left the room via teleportation. Reappearing back in her room, Raven hummed happily to herself.
I felt good to be free.
###
"Hurry up slowpokes!" Happy shouted from far in front. "I can see my house from here!"
""House" being a rather loose term." Knowledge notes.
Beast Boy gives her a curious look but the yellow-cloaked girl waves it off. He'll see soon enough.
Climbing the last hill in his way, the changeling lets out a gasp. Happy's "house" Is a large mess of tubes, bridges, and random cubes. There seem to be numerous rides and games strewn about the complex. The "building" stretches up as high as Titans Tower.
How could he not see this behind the hill? The building was definitely tall enough.
Shaking it off as "Happy logic", he walks forward towards what he presumes to be the entrance. The other emoticlones trail behind him.
"Up here!"Happy calls out. Everyone else looks up in shock to see that she has already made it to the top... Floor? Space? They really don't know what to call the cube Happy is peering down from inside of.
Entering a door into one other cubes, Beast Boy lets out a whistle. "Wow. Dis id kool."
The inside of the cube holds a whole army's worth of food and drink dispensers. Every flavor imaginable of pie, pop, you name it.
"Dis wooked a wot smawlah fwom de ouside..." The changeling says, grinning.
"Don't try to make sense of it; you can't. I've tried." Knowledge sighs.
"Maybe ya ain't as smart as ya'd like to think you are." Rude snickers.
"So you think YOU can figure this out? Be my guest." Knowledge crosses her arms and stares down the orange-cloaked girl.
"N-No fighting." Timid whimpers, cowering behind Beast Boy once more.
"Everyone needs a good fight SOMETIMES." Brave chuckles.
"I'll pass." Sloth mutters.
"Ditto." Rage growls. "I'd rather NOT risk going berserk."
Brave looks slightly embarrassed, but stays adamant about her point. "Even you need to get everything out of your system sometimes, despite the danger it might bring."
"Brave being smart?!" Rude gasps in shock. "I must be getting a fever! Call the ambulance!"
Brave growls her irritation. Beast Boy speaks up. "Dis id how you gets tings out of yowr sysem wight Wude?"
Rude looks taken aback. "Err... I guess so... I never considered that. I always thought it was just my thing. I'm supposed to be rude."
"An Wage is suppos to be agwy, but she not." The changeling points out. "Yous not wude all da time. Moswy you jus joke awound a bid."
Once again, the rest of the emoticlones smile at Beast Boy's odd sensitivity.
"Why isn't he this good at noticing these things all the time?" Affection pouts.
"Because we're more expressive than Raven, and he can relate with Rude better than most." Knowledge theorizes.
"I wish he could relate with Raven better... I'm tired of being repressed." The purple girl sighs.
Knowledge puts a hand on her shoulder. "It will be fine. Raven won't shut herself out forever. Beast Boy will make sure of it, we know he will."
Affection smiles. "I know. I just hate waiting."
"We couldn't tell." Sloth says sarcastically, grinning at the purple-cloaked emoticlone. "Plus, the rest of us might not be all about relationships and stuff, but we still feel what Raven feels. You think we aren't tired of waiting too?"
Affection reddens. "I had forgotten."
"Well now ya remember." Sloth chuckles.
"What's taking you all so long?" Happy's voice echoes through the "building". "Hurry up!"
"We're coming! Holder your horses!" Rage snaps. Turning to the rest of the group she says "Can we get going? The amount of different smells in here isn't doing me any favors."
The rest of the group nods in agreement and locates a stairway to start their trek up Happy Tower.
Chapter 13 complete. In case you don't know, that last picture form Beast Boy's album is from one of my other stories called "Mother Knows Best".