A/N I must dis-claim any ownership of the Teen Titans characters and universe, as well as anything else I may make reference to. Fair warning; it might be a squick strange 'round the center, but don't let that discourage you. I can't be sure that it's odd at all, because to me it's all normal.
"Really, all you have to do is fill in the blanks with something, it doesn't have to be true as long as it's all consistent. I've already filled in a lot of the more obvious bits, gender and instrument and all that, so -
"Explain to me this; why am I being entered in a music competition?" Raven interrupted Robin's rambling. She didn't need him to give her advice on covers; she herself had known more alternate identities than languages, and she knew a considerable amount of them, both of the earth and off of it. No, what she needed to know was why she was doing this in the first place.
Robin's face darkened "There's an unknown kidnapper on the loose. The victims disappear, then show up a couple days later, completely unharmed and with no recollection of what happened while they were missing. The kidnapper has been targeting violinists, male and female, for the last couple of months. So far, all the cases have been fairly spaced out, but now that a lot of the music competitions are starting soon…"
"There's going to be a lot more violinists concentrated into relatively small areas." Raven finished. "So you want me to get kidnapped?"
Robin's masked eyes widened. "No, of course not! There will be other Titans posted throughout the theater to prevent that from happening. The fact that you play violin and the kidnapper targets violinists is purely coincidental – I asked if anyone played classical music just to try and get someone backstage and with the other violinists. It wouldn't matter if you played cello or harp."
Raven looked at him for a few moments, before deciding that he was sincere, and stacking up the paperwork. Robin shivered, half-wishing that she couldn't always read people like that even as he realized that that was part of what made her such a good advisor sometimes; however he did not dwell on the thought long and soon they both left his office.
)o(
"What you listening to?" Jinx asked casually, flopping onto the sofa, right next to Raven.
"The Vinca Quartet, playing Schubert Quartettsatz in C minor," Raven replied as she wrote down Name: Rowena Schuhart, Stage Name: Rowan Sherwood, Age: 16…
"Never heard of them." Jinx replied honestly. "Are they good?"
Raven nodded. "Technically, I'll be entering the solo category, but in a quartet – a good one anyway, like Vinca – it's easier to tell whether someone's playing at the wrong tempo or dynamic. It has to be really precise. And they're all good at vibrato too." Email:
Jinx wasn't sure what some of the terms meant, but she was more or less certain she understood the gist of what Raven was talking about, so she nodded along anyway. "Well, um, happy listening I guess."
"Mm-hmm." Accompaniment: No, Disabilities/Medical Conditions: Synesthesia… "Beast Boy, could you turn that down? You've seen that a thousand times, and I can't hear the diminuendos."
Beast Boy stuck his tongue out, but complied, turning down the television and diminishing the sci-fi sounds coming from Clash of the Planets 2.
)o(
The confirmation arrived two days later at breakfast, along with directions to the theater, private rehearsal time slots, and instructions to arrive no later than an hour before show time, in black tie attire. Starfire – and most of the other girls on the team – were ecstatic. They had often tried to convince Raven to actually participate on the rare girl's-night-in or shopping spree, but the empath refused to partake in so much as a makeover.
"This is wonderful!" Starfire exclaimed, shooting into the air with a rush of unbridled joy. "We shall go to the mall of shopping, and perform braiding maneuvers upon your hair, and do makeovers, and-"
"No!" Raven said, paling beyond her usual skin tone while the guys at the table barely contained their snickers. "For the love of Azar, no make-up."
"It doesn't matter if you use contacts and hair dye, love, people will know you're not human by your skin tone. You need to at least use a little foundation, and some lipstick too for good measure." Argent advised knowingly.
Raven frowned and shook her head. "I told you; no. I'll do a spell." Wait, no, she was still underage, the Ministry would get all in her face about it if she used wand magic. "Or I'll make a potion. Perhaps I'll ask a faerie I know to put a glamour on me, but no make-up – Scathe knows what that put in that stuff." She shuddered, remembering how at one point in history, make up had actual poisoned – and slowly killed – women of nobility. Noticing that the others were looking at her oddly she said "What?"
"Girl, you believe in fairies?" Bumblebee asked incredulously
Raven rolled her eyes and muttered something underneath her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'mortals,' before saying in a louder voice "Of course I believe in faeries, though I suppose you wouldn't based on what you see in Disney and Cinderella. For starters, they don't randomly give magical gifts to humans who are royal or pretty or whatever. Occasionally they'll make trades, but the fae are much more inclined to play the occasional prank, or switch small children from different realms, or even drown humans in the case of kelpies, but mostly they just ignore us – err, you." She amended. Everyone present continued to stare at her as if she had gone mad. "What, do you need proof? Robin what's the time needed to heat water according to the instructions on the coffee maker?" Robin examined the base of the machine.
"5-6 minutes for one mug of coffee," He called, looking puzzled, "but it normally only takes about two minutes when it's just me."
Raven nodded. "See? That's because Tully Grayshanks – he's a brownie – helps it heat up. Brownies like heat." She explained, as she deposited her empty tea mug in the sink. "I'll be in my room." And with that she left, satisfied that she had driven all thought of dresses and hair styles from their heads, though the effort had required an unfortunate amount of talking on her part.
)o(
Raven did not hear any of the whispers, or the giggling. She only barely heard herself tuning. It had been years since she had played violin, true, but tuning to her was still as natural as breathing. Playing again had unlocked similar memories, and they filled her ears more than any current sound;
The orchestra was rustling with the sounds of last minute stand adjustments, people reordering music, and string players rosining their bows, but all that stopped the moment their conductor lifted his baton; it was almost time to play, the performers were ready behind the curtains...
Playing on the street corner, she was thrilled to see a man throw a whole twenty dollar bill into the box; just a couple more generous passerby like that, and she might be able to go the whole winter without having to hunt some poor animal for her meal…
"No, Naano," Azar scolded, using her Azarian name, "your fingers are collapsed, how do you expect to reach all the strings?" she said, gently moving Raven's - Naano's hand into the correct position. "There, better?"
She was jolted out of her memories by two pairs of slim but strong arms around her waist. "Time to go shopping!" she heard someone say behind her before her violin was yanked from her hands and she was dragged unceremoniously out of her room.
)o(
"Hellllllllooooooo! Earth to Raven, do you like this one or not?" Jinx said, gesturing at the dress that currently resided upon Raven's own body.
Raven looked down at the blindingly crimson, one-shoulder-strap dress and wrinkled her nose, wondering how she could have dressed in something so garish without noticing.
"I look like Ms. Scarlet, though I suppose it's not the worse dress I've tried so far." A frilly pink number and a dress that resembled a shirt came to mind.
"What are you thinking about? You're so out of it we could dress you in lingerie and you wouldn't notice," Jinx noted.
"I'm thinking about the muscles in a finger, the pros and cons of being a tree, and the twelve uses of dragon's blood; basically, anything my subconscious can think of to distract me. And I'm not sure how you can truthfully classify that short black one as non-lingerie." Raven responded, turning back into the changing stall.
"Well why don't you pick one? We figured out your dress size a while ago, I can tell you it," Jinx said holding back a smile. This was the side of Raven she had only glimpsed in battle before joining the Titans – stubborn, absentminded, and Tomboyish in her views of personal appearance and all things girly. "Or if you want, I've got a dress you might like. It was on clearance," Jinx thought Raven would like that since she had frowned when she glimpsed some of the price tags.
There was a pause as Raven changed and actually bothered to examine the dress she was wearing this time. "This will work," She said finally.
)o(
Their next stop had been a shoe store, at which Raven had grumbled 'I hate shoes,' but was dragged into any way. She rejected the heels they tried to give her, saying it'd blow her cover if she had to float every time she moved. Instead she browsed until she found a pair of black ballet flats.
By the end of the day, she had purchased the dress – a dark blue sleeveless gown, with a low waist, a full skirt, and a vague 1920s feel to it - the shoes, a weird silver hairclip that Starfire insisted upon, and more violin & viola rosin; She had a lot of practicing to do if she was to get out of this without embarrassing herself.
)o(
A/N- that's a much better sized chapter. Poor Raven. Couple of things I think I'll mention
The Vinca Quartet is real, they came to our school twice last year, and the four of them make us (our 90 member advanced orchestra) sound like we're playing with sandpaper.
does not exist, but at least Orc Dork rhymes, take that band geeks! (It's ok, it's still easier for you tune your instruments)
Um yeah, the fae aka fairies are a diverse bunch. Brownies are not something I made up, they're one of the wee folk that originated in Scotland. Kelpies are like water spirits that generally look like horses, and drown their victims when they try to get on the kelpies back. Most mortals can't see Faeries, unless there is a changeling in their ancestry. No, beast boy is not a changeling, he's a shape shifter. Changelings are faerie infants who've been switched for mortal ones. You've just got a lecture on: faeries!
Review or PM me! If you have questions about terms, or really liked this, or want to flame my grammar/editing skills!