I followed Cyborg and Robin back to the main living room, which I later found out was referred to as the Ops Room. Once we arrived, the girls were already there waiting for us. Raven was once again seated with her face in a book. Starfire was watching television. I don't know what the Hell she was watching, but all I know is that when I looked at the screen, I saw a butcher slaughtering a live pig. I don't really know why, but something about the way humans killed animals tended to make me sick, especially since I could hear and translate the pig's dying cries. Starfire for whatever reason just kept watching.
"Y'all ready to…. ah, come on, Star", began Cyborg. "Not that documentary again."
"Forgive me", began Starfire as she turned off the t.v.. "I had forgotten how much you disliked that program."
"And that program was what exactly", I asked, still suspicious on how she was able to watch that without her stomach being in knots.
"It's a documentary on how hotdogs are made", said Cyborg. "For some reason it's her favorite thing to watch, second to her other favorite show, "The Incredible World of Fungus"."
"Yeah, forget I asked."
"Excuse me, but there is nothing wrong with my programs! As you can see, even Raven has no complaints about either of them", said Starfire as she motioned towards Raven, still lost in her book.
"Probably because everything is dark and disturbing with her", said Cyborg jokingly as he wiggled his fingers as if to indicate dark magic or voodoo.
"Probably more like she's just tuning it out", I suggested sarcastically as I noticed that Raven had no reaction or movement in response to us directly talking about her.
"Nonsense. Observe", said Starfire as she floats over to Raven. "Raven, perhaps you could shed some light on what was learned today about Brazilian trees and what grows underneath." Raven just kept staring at her book.
"Ten bucks says she's asleep with her eyes open", said Cyborg.
"Ten bucks says she's not", I responded.
"Bet on it then", he said as he offered me his right hand.
"Deal", I respond as I rose to my hind legs and grasped his hand with my paw.
"You gamble", asked Robin.
"It's not a gamble when you know you're going to win".
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Be ready to pay up", challenged Cyborg.
"Raven", asked Starfire as she poked the top of Raven's head. "Raven", she asked again a little louder as she waved her hand in front of her face. Both times, Raven just continued to stare at her book. Starfire then takes a deep breath. "RAVEN", she shouts upon exhale as Cyborg, Robin, and I all cover our ears and wince. Starfire's scream was so loud and piercing that I instinctively let out a howl.
"As if Starfire wasn't being loud enough. What's with the howl", asked Cyborg as he bonked me on the head.
"It's not my fault Starfire screams like a dog whistle", I responded defensively.
"Speaking of dog whistles, Raven doesn't seem to be phased", said Robin, pulling us back to the matter at hand.
"I do not understand. Why does she not respond? Have I done something to upset her", asked a now concerned Starfire.
"That screaming was kinda upsetting", muttered Cyborg under his breath. Upon hearing him say that I nudged him with my elbow, which honestly shocked the both of us. I wasn't expecting to have defended Starfire the way I did.
"I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong", said Robin as he tried to comfort Starfire.
"Then why does she not answer me?"
"Actually I don't think she's answering anybody", I said trying to be nice to Starfire for once.
"I'm telling you guys, she's asleep."
"Is it normal for Earthlings to sleep with such posture", asked Starfire. Robin and I responded by simply shaking our heads.
"Well then what else could explain why she hasn't moved in like five minutes", asked Cyborg. Raven then shocks everybody by licking her right thumb and index finger before turning the page of her book. Once she did, she folded the corner of the new page and closed the book.
"See these things, in my ears", asked a slightly irritated Raven as she placed the book in her lap and points her two index fingers at her ears. "They are called ear plugs, and are designed to block out sound." Raven then uses her dark powers to pull the ear plugs out of her ears, which was when I noticed that each one was cloaked in her aura, which explained why a mere set of ear plugs managed to block out that much sound. "Now start over", demanded Raven. The four of us all groaned and facepalmed in response for having been stumped on such an obvious answer. "Did I miss something?"
"Nothing, Raven", said Robin. "Just a bit of miscommunication."
"Yeah, and I owe the new guy ten bucks", said a slightly disappointed Cyborg.
"Cash only, please", I responded with a cheeky grin. I could hear Cyborg growling to himself in response, which caused me to snicker a bit.
"Now that that matter is settled, what do you guys say we get going", suggested Robin.
"We cannot yet", said Starfire.
"Why not?"
"She's right", I responded as I looked around the room. "Aren't there supposed to be six of us", I asked in reference to the fact that Beast Boy wasn't in the room.
"I knew it was a bit too quiet in here", said Raven.
"Says the girl with the suped-up ear plugs", responded Cyborg.
"Have no fear, Beast Boy is here", says Beast Boy as he bursts into the room with his arms out as if expecting a roaring crowd of fans. The rest of us all just kinda stare at him in awkward silence. "You guys can't let me have nothing, can you", asked Beast Boy in his EAC face.
"Wonderful! Now we may proceed to the mall of shopping", said an excited Starfire.
"Race you guys to the elevators", said Beast Boy as he then runs out of the room. Starfire and Raven made quick work flying after him with Robin, Cyborg, and I running behind them. We got to the elevators to find Beast Boy with several plastic grocery bags in his arms. "Can one of you guys push the button. My arms are kinda full." The rest of us maneuver our way around Beast Boy to get closer to the door as Cyborg pushes the down button. Once the doors opened, everyone except Beast Boy rushed in. Looking into the elevator, I stood in the back right corner (I had Changed back to my human form at this point). Raven stood in front of me, Robin stood next to me, Cyborg stood next to him, and Starfire originally stood in front of Robin, but quickly moved to her right in front of Cyborg as Beast Boy backed into the elevator.
The elevator itself wasn't very big. It was a bit of a tight fit for all six of us on a normal day, so I knew that having Beast Boy with all of those bags would only make the ride more uncomfortable. As Beast Boy backed his way further and further into the elevator, the rest of us all tried to back up further instinctively. Since I was backed into the corner and therefore had nowhere to go, eventually Raven backed into me. Once she bumped into me, my hands instinctively reach for her hips. They touch them briefly, but then are yanked away by me once I realized what I'd done.
Jesus, Fernando! Hands to yourself! Scared and hoping that neither Raven or any of the other Titans noticed me touching her, I decided to Change. Once the Change was complete, I found myself crawling along the back wall of the elevator. My already nearly perfect eyesight instantly quadrupled in strength as I was seeing through eight red eyes as opposed to my usual two eyes. In this form, I had eight, sticky legs, a relatively round body, and was only about two inches long. It's been a while since Arachnimon came out to play, I thought to myself as I took advantage of my situation to stretch my legs.
With my body having shrunk quite considerably, there was now plenty of room for the other Titans to rearrange themselves comfortably. Once we were all in place, Starfire pushes the button for the garage and the doors close. As we rode down, a part of me was shocked that neither Robin nor Raven who could both clearly see that I Changed said nothing in response. Then again, the two of them witnessed me grow four extra arms when we fought the H.I.V.E. Five. It was at that moment that I heard Cyborg cry out.
"Yo! Is that a Black Widow", asked a startled Cyborg as he pointed towards me (despite my being a male black widow, I had the size and coloring of a female for some reason). Cyborg then draws his hand back as he prepares to strike at me.
Oh shit, I thought to myself. I had forgotten that he was unconscious when I fought the H.I.V.E. Five.
"Cyborg, wait", began Raven as she tried to explain that I had simply Changed. I turned towards Raven as she began to speak, and because I did, I wasn't prepared to dodge Cyborg's attack. The force of his hand crushing me against the wall was more than enough to make me lose my grip and fall to the floor onto my back.
"Did anybody get the license plate on that rhino", I groaned after my landing.
"You okay", asked Robin as he looked down at me. Raven then turns around and squats down towards me. She then uses her index finger to gently roll me off of my back and back onto my feet.
"Yeah, I'm okay", I said dizzily as I shook my head. I then noticed Raven cup her hands and place them on the floor. I hesitated at her gesture for a moment, but got confirmation from her when she nodded and motioned towards her hands. She was letting me climb onto her hands so she could lift me up. That alone earned her some brownie points in my book. Half the time my own sisters hated it when I crawled over any part of their bodies in my spider form.
After I happily accepted her invitation, Raven lifts me up to the others. I noticed that the others, except Robin, all kinda had weird looks on their faces, almost like they'd never seen a spider before.
"This isn't going to be a problem, is it", I asked.
"Is that you in there", asked Cyborg as he leaned in extremely close to me in Raven's hands. In fact he was way too close for my taste. Without thinking I instinctively spit a web into his face.
"Blegh", exclaimed Cyborg as he began spitting in disgust. "It got in my mouth!"
"And for the record I want a 50% interest", I said to him.
"Man, you'll be lucky if I don't whip out the bug spray."
"Bug spray? Really, dude", I asked as I crossed my two front legs as if I were in human form crossing my arms. Raven responds to my action by chuckling a little to herself quietly. I then noticed a small look of shock on Cyborg's face, which told me that he heard her laughing, too, but before he could say anything, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Once that happened, Beast Boy immediately sprinted out of the elevator and made a break for the T-Car.
"Must, get, to, car", panted Beast Boy as he desperately tried to get to the car before his arms gave out from exhaustion. I could tell he was determined to not make a second trip or place any of the bags down. This became extremely noticeable when he morphed into a gorilla. He was too impatient to wait for somebody to open the car door for him, as was shown when he opened the door for himself via opposable toes. Once he got the door opened, he immediately threw the bags onto the back seat. He then let out a large sigh of relief as he returned to his human form.
"What's even in those bags", I asked him.
"It's my dry cleaning."
"More like your dirty laundry", said Raven (cue Beast Boy's EAC face).
"Well that's your opinion."
"My opinion? Who dry cleans their underwear?"
"What? It feels good", says Beast Boy as he placed his hands on his hips as if he were doing the cliched heroic pose.
"Thank you, Beast Boy, for that lovely visual", I said sarcastically as I rubbed the sides of my head with two of my legs as if I were in human form rubbing my temples. I could hear Raven chuckling again, which gave me a bit of a confidence boost.
"If I could interrupt for just a moment, I'd suggest we get going", said Cyborg as he flashed his car keys.
"I call shotgun", exclaimed Robin as he rushed over to the right side of the car. Beast Boy responds to this by morphing into a cat and jumping in front of his path. Robin hesitates and stops to look down at the green feline. Beast Boy then lowers his ears and his eyes somehow got a whole lot bigger.
"I don't get it. What's he doing", I asked Raven.
"He's giving him "the face"."
"I see. I'd suggest getting Beast Boy a lawyer, 'cause I think DreamWorks is gonna sue somebody." It was a corny joke, but it got another chuckle out of Raven, so in my book it was a successful joke.
"You know, it's really not as effective the millionth time you do it", said Robin to Beast Boy as he jumps over him and continues to the passenger seat next to Cyborg. A disappointed Beast Boy responds by arching his back and hissing at Robin.
"There there, Beast Boy", began Starfire as she floated over and crouched down to meet the green cat. "You can ride with me." Beast Boy then meows happily and leaps into Starfire's arms. She responds to this by giggling and hugging the furry feline.
"I'm really not sure what there was to fight about", began Cyborg as he opened the door to the driver's seat. With all six of us having to ride with BB's laundry, it would've always had to come down to him and the new guy shrinking down to ride in the back.
He's got a point there, I thought to myself.
"Now come on, y'all. Let's get going already", said Cyborg as he got in the car and started the engine. Starfire and Raven then start making their way to the back seats of the car, Beast Boy in Starfire's arms, and myself in Raven's hands. As Starfire focused her path on the back right seat, Raven began to walk towards the back left seat. Seeing as how I managed to already get Raven to laugh a few times that day, I saw another opportunity to show off and be a gentleman. Just before Raven got close enough to the door, I spoke out.
"Allow me", I said to her as I turned around to face her. I then leaped from her hands and landed on her right shoulder. Once I was there, I turned back to the door and pointed one of my legs at it. The door then became surrounded by my aura as I pulled my leg back towards me and the door opened. I then noticed a cool, chilly feeling rushing over my body as Raven began getting into the car. I look my body over and noticed that I was encased in a black aura, specifically Raven's aura, and it felt good. My spider body was getting goosebumps, as if she was using her aura to pet me. "You're welcome", I whispered as Raven closed the door and began buckling her seat belt. Once she got situated, she lifts her left index finger up to her right shoulder and awkwardly pets me. I didn't mind that it was awkward, she was trying to pet a spider after all. I was very content with the sole fact that she was trying to pet me despite my size or form.
"Alrighty then", said Cyborg as he opened the garage door. "To the mall."
"Teen Titans, go", exclaimed Robin in a jokingly gung ho fashion as the T-Car shot out of the garage.
The trip to the mall was slightly longer than our trip to the museum, or rather our mission at the museum. Probably because of the fact that because it wasn't an emergency, therefore Cyborg didn't have to break the speed limit. The other reason was the fact that the mall was downtown on the other side of the city. I would later find out that the trip from the tower to the mall, with traffic, and without us speeding, took about a good twenty-five, maybe thirty minutes. The entire trip was spent listening to Robin's ear-deafening rock music while an extremely talkative Starfire constantly tried to speak over it. The other three Titans were all probably used to this, but me, I was going crazy. It was because of times like these that I hated the fact that I had enhanced hearing. That ride would've been sheer Hell had it not been for Raven.
About halfway through our trip, as if she noticed I was getting irritated, Raven lifts her left hand up to her right shoulder again, but this time she cups it, offering me a ride down. I accept her invitation as I crawled from her shoulder onto her hand. She then immediately tilts her left hand towards her right hand underneath. I take the hint and leap from her left hand down to her right. Once there, I noticed her hand beginning to cup again, so I moved up towards her fingertips. Once I was there, Raven then goes on to pet me with her thumb as she lowers her hand to her lap. Since she was in a more comfortable position to pet me in, as opposed to earlier when she had to reach across her chest to do so, the attention I was getting from her thumb was just as amazing as when she was scratching my ears before. I would've been perfectly fine letting her pet me like that forever, but then I noticed something.
Throughout the course of the trip Cyborg had to take several sharp turns, which wouldn't have been so bad if Beast Boy's bags of laundry weren't a mile high. Of course I am exaggerating when I say it was a mile high, but the pile was still big enough to where the girls, if they chose to, could lean against each side to use as a giant pillow. However, considering the contents inside, it was safe to assume that they wouldn't. With that said, every time Cyborg made a turn, the pile of laundry bags would lean, and one of the girls would then be forced to push it off of them. Starfire was always perfectly prepared to do so, but because her right hand was focusing on pleasuring me, Raven had to awkwardly use her left hand to reach across herself and push the pile using only that hand. I let it slide the first two times, but after the third time, I felt I should help her out a bit.
After she pushed the pile for the third time, I slipped from under her thumb and paced around her hand in a few circles to grab her attention. Once I was sure I had her undivided attention, I crawl off of her hand and onto her lap. I hesitate for a moment to look up at her to make sure she was watching me. One could argue that it probably would've just been easier to communicate this with her had I just spoken to her, but then again, they would be viewing my relationship with Raven from the outside, and therefore have no idea how we did things. If meeting Raven and flirting with her up to that point had taught me anything, it was that actions, gestures, body language, and non-verbals in general spoke much louder than words. Besides, I was still a bit secretive about my feelings for Raven, so it was better for me if I could flirt with her without the others noticing.
Once I was certain that she was focused on me, I began to Change. I could feel my eight red eyes turning green as my body began to Change from arachnid to serpent. One moment I was a two-inch long black widow, and the next, I was a five-foot long diamondback rattlesnake, with a case of melanism. It was a bit of a large jump from Changing from a spider to a large, venomous snake, I admit, but it was the smallest animal I could Change into other than a spider, and fortunately the only other Titan that noticed my Change was Beast Boy, who by that point wasn't shocked by my snake form. I noticed that Raven's legs sort of tensed up slightly after my Change was complete, which was understandable. Not only was I now thirty times bigger than I previously was, but now I weighed about fifteen pounds, all of which sat in Raven's lap.
Before the other Titans could notice me and make a scene about it, I slither up Raven's right arm, slowly and deliberately. Once I reached her shoulder, I then begin to slither along her collar and behind her neck. I continued this path until my body was stretched across her shoulders, neck, and arms. When I felt I was in the perfect position, I scrunched and folded the coils behind her neck to make myself shorter. In doing so, my coils sort of piled up behind her head, giving her a crude pillow to rest against. I continued this until my head rested right on her left shoulder, and my tail stretched down to her right elbow.
As if someone was about to ask me why I wasn't evenly stretched across Raven's shoulders, Cyborg turns the car right and the pile of bags begins to lean into Raven. Anticipating that, I stick out my tail and push back against the toppling bags, and fortunately for me, the turn wasn't as huge as the others, so I was easily able to push all of the bags off of her using only my tail. Once I did, I used my psychic abilities to pull up Raven's hood onto her head. Beast Boy would later ask me why I did this, as he was quietly watching the two of us the whole time, and my response to him was that I did that so Raven could lean against my body, without messing up her hair.
I assumed that she appreciated my gesture, as she didn't reject or resist the fact that I moved her hood for her. She also then leaned against me, sending chills throughout my long spine. She then turns her head to the left, towards me and the window. She looks down at me out the corners of her eyes, her violet eyes locked with my green eyes. I then flick my serpent tongue at the air for a moment. There was no real reason for it other than to attempt to add a bit of a cuteness factor. It was easy to do so when I was a wolf or a lion, but as a snake, all I could do was guess. Unlike cats and dogs, snakes, and well reptiles in general, aren't typically known for being cute. Much to my surprise and my delight when Raven returned my cute gesture with a smile. She then lifts her right hand to pet me one more time before drifting off to sleep, which was perfectly fine with me for two reasons.
The first and most obvious one was because she was Raven. No guy is going to say, "no" if the girl they're crushing on falls asleep while leaning up against them. The second was that we were stuck in traffic. As long as it was going to take to drive to the mall, we still had to deal with traffic, which added to the fact that we had to drive through downtown, told us we had a few extra minutes before we got moving again, meaning I had all the more time to just sit back and listen and watch as Raven slept.
Enjoy your power nap, I thought to myself as I looked out the corners of my eyes to see Beast Boy, still watching us. At this point, I noticed that Robin's music had died down to some smooth jazz, and Starfire had also fallen asleep. With the girls out cold and the other guys occupied with the music and the road, this was the perfect time to have the anticipated "guy talk" Beast Boy and I were set to have. It was also fortunate for us that the two of us were in animal forms, making it the perfect way to eliminate the chances of eavesdropping.
"I told you you two would be perfect for each other."
"Shut it, Beasssst Boy!"
"Come on, dude. I'm not that stupid. It doesn't take a genius to realize that you have a thing for Raven. You might be able to fool the others, but you can't fool me."
"You know, I'm not above eating catssss."
"Aha! Defensive!"
"I am not!"
"Denial."
"Alright, fine!"
"Acceptance."
"Don't push your luck."
"What's the big deal? You like her, don't you?"
"Jusssst drop it, Beasssst Boy."
"But, why? Why not just tell her?"
"I ssssaid to drop it!" Having finally taken the hint, Beast Boy paces around in a few circles and curls up on Starfire's lap. As he began to doze off, my mind began to wander.
He doessssn't understand. How could he when he doessssn't know? I don't have that much time left. I sssstill don't know if I should tell her, or jusssst take my time and enjoy the flirting. And that'ssss just the tip of the icccceberg. Between Kendall, that dove, the woman in the white cloak, Doctor Light, Ranccccid, my mother, the Elementalssss, there'ssss sssso many loosssse endssss to tie up that I don't know where to sssstart. It was at that moment that I started to hear those voices again, the cooing of the dove, the giggling of Kendall, and the haunting and hypnotic voice of the white-cloaked woman as she whispered, "we shall meet again". I respond to this by shaking my head as if to shut the voices up, but did so gently so that I wouldn't wake Raven. After that was done, I look over at her. She looked so beautiful and peaceful as she slept.
Could she be any cuter, I asked myself as I listened to her breathing and felt her breath against my scales. It was at that moment she began to snore, but even that had a desirable cuteness to it. Unlike most people, whose snoring sounded like a long, drawn out grunt/growling sound, Raven's snoring was much quieter, so much quieter that her snoring sounded more like a hissing sound than a growling sound. I don't know how she managed it, but she took what is usually the most annoying and irritating sound in the world, and made it into one of the most cutest and adorable in the world. Hearing the already gorgeous Raven snoring a reptilian snore was not only cute, but I surprisingly found it rather, though a part feels really dark for admitting this, sexy. I'm not gonna lie. Ssssnake or not, that issss hot, I told myself as I continued to listen to her snore. It was at that moment that I decided to forget about the voices and upcoming danger, just for a moment. That'ssss enough worrying for now. I need a break, I thought as I turned my head back up to my body and began to drift off to sleep.