Gem and story are mine; other characters and setting are not.
I'm going to do this in 1st person, as previously stated. If you like it more or less, please inform me!
"Gem. Interesting name." Beast Boy seemed surprised by it. "Sure it's not Cloud or Vapor or Sphere or Gassy?"
"I have a best friend named Gassy!" I smiled at him.
"No way!"
"Yeah, you're right. Thought I got you for a second." He gave me a light punch on my arm.
"Ah, but at least it's a name. More than 'Our guest upstairs.'" He sighed.
"'Our guest upstairs?' Really? That's the best you guys came up with?" I laughed.
"Well, it was that or 'Guy with powers that got hit.' It's shorter and nicer, as Starfire pointed out." Soon he was laughing as well. I was amazed at how inviting he and his teammates were. One moment I'm helping steal a hard drive with the others and now I'm sitting here, having a nice and casual conversation with one of the Teen Titans.
"You know, I'll be right back." I said. And with that, I leaned forward. Soon I was falling, plummeting towards the base of the tower. In a moment I'd fall and be a mere splatter, but before that moment I'd pull myself up. After a little exertion and sure enough, I was flying. Soaring above the bay, I could feel the wind in my hair and the fading sun upon my face. It felt like it had been ages since I've felt the wind.
"That was pretty sick dude." A voice came from my right. I was pretty scared you were going to bite the big one." It was a green eagle flying next to me.
"Ah, the Golden Eagle. Trying to catch up with me?" I chided.
"You know your birds? A telekinetic that knows their birds." He was surprised.
"Telekinetic? Where did you get that from?" I chuckled. "I'm far from it."
"But you can lift things and you're actually pretty smart." If I was closer, I would swear his green composure would be a muddy brown... for an eagle.
"Smart. Right, well, first time for anything. Oh, I know what I can show you, look." I motioned toward the clear bay sky. Soon I had clouds rolling in from the east and the west, meeting and then dispersing the same way as they came.
"Ah, you can lift stuff and control the weather. What else can you do?"
"Not too sure, let's see…" I clapped my hands together and slowly pulled them apart, concentrating on expanding the barrier I was thinking of. Air started swirling and it wasn't long before I made it expand ten feet around the two of us.
"What? What is this?" He asked, flying closer to my side.
"A barrier, I think. I'd say try to go through, but it might hurt."
"Ah, no problem. Wait." He said, getting close to the barrier, "You hear that?"
"No, I can't. What are you talking about?" I said, getting close to the other side of the barrier.
"I can't hear the ocean." Beast Boy explained, putting his wing through the barrier. As he touched it, the barrier showed the air that it was compromised of. "Ah, air manipulation." His somber tone was obvious.
"Yeah, I found out after an overdose." My mood dampened as well. There was odd silence for the both of use over the bay, no sound from outside the barrier was coming in, but even I didn't know that that would happen.
"Well, let's go back to the tower, it's getting dark." I said to break the silence.
"You remember me a lot of a girlfriend I once had."
"Oh? The way you stare I figured you fancied something else." I remarked, touching down on the tower.
"I don't know. It's been a bit since I've really noticed anyone. She… died a while back." He transformed and landed on his feet during the last statement.
"Oh," I said, walking towards the smaller green man, "I, I can't imagine." I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.
"How are you so easy to talk to?" He turned to meet my gaze.
"I suppose everything's easy after you touch someone else's penis."
"Heh, ass." He smiled.
"Apparently. I think this is the longest interaction I've had." The second sentence came out as a whisper.
"No way, you've had to have had discussions with those jerks you were with."
"Nope, just a lot of yelling, drugs, and hate." I moved to the other side of tower's roof, sitting and watching the night rise over the city. "They got me addicted to cocaine; I didn't know it would do anything. 'It will help you remember. It will make your cares go away. Don't be a Titan.'"
"What?" He remarked.
"They hated you, 'Titan' akin to a pussy. But I overdosed at a… party, I guess, and they left me to die."
"Lucky you." He sat down behind me.
"I know, but they were all I had, or thought I had. The lucky part is that I didn't die, though I thought it unlucky at the time." I sighed; I did think that death would have saved me. "Then I guess my subconscious tapped into my powers and flew me back to where we stayed, or something." He shifted behind me. "And what makes me so easily able to talk to you?"
"Probably because I touched your penis." We both started laughing, my own line used against me.
"Maybe, maybe." Was all I could get out between laughing that continued for a few minutes. At the end, we both sighed.
"This was nice, thanks for taking me up here." I turned to see him lying down on the top of the tower. The top half of his purple and black uniform bunched underneath his head.
"Nights not over." He mused, patting the space beside him.
"Oh really? And what do you suppose we do?" I smiled, thoughts not so completely clean while taking of my own shirt to do the same beside him.
"Well, I was wondering if you know about stars." He said.
"Astronomy? No… I just know meteorology, ornithology, and a bit of aerodynamics and ecology." After a moment I looked over to Beast Boy. "Or, I guess I do."
"Yeah," He sniggered, "Well all I got is zoology, paleontology, and, my personal favorite, cryptozoology. And some light astronomy."
"Cryptozoology? That's fun, guess it makes sense too. Why astronomy?"
"I used to think chicks dug the astronomy thing, but I mixed it up with astrology." He laughed at himself.
"Alright, so astronomy, what's up there?"
"Alright, see the big dipper?"
"Yeah, of course."
"And follow the lines of the scoop and you get-"
"The North Star." I interrupted. I've got basic information at least.
"Ah, well, look around the scoop of ursa minor… riiiiiight, there." He said, motioning his hand in a snake like motion in the air. "It looks like a snake, it's Draco."
"No, I don't see it." I said, staring hard into the sky.
"Here." He moved closer, making our arms touch. "Now do you see it?" He was making the same motions as before.
"Nope, just looks like stars." I shrugged.
"Let's try this." He stood up, moved the top of his uniform right next to my head. Then he sat down behind my head and laid his head next to mine. He was so close, I could hear his breathing. It was new, being this close to someone. "Now do you see it?"
"That is a constellation? You have to be kidding!" I laughed.
"Really, it is!" He chuckled along, "Go from the belly of that straight across, and you find Cepheus."
"Where?"
"There." He pointed, making out a small house with the stars. "I'm going to have to point all of these out aren't I?"
"Probably. But that's some crappy constellation." I chided.
"Hey, I didn't knock what you studied."
"True, but mine are fairly useful." I nudged his head with mine.
"Ecology?"
"Save the world and all that."
"Ah, a hippie, I should've guessed with how much you like gallivanting around naked."
"You're one too then, Mr. Veggies."
"Alright, alright. I concede. But if you want to see rubbish constellations, I've got three for you." He redirected my attention back above. "There, see that 'W'? Cassiopeia. And over here, many stars over, that zigzag line? Lynx." He made the motions for each as he described them. My mouth was open in disbelief. "And if you follow Lynx down and down and down, there's a small sequence that looks like a face, here. Happernicus."
"You have to be shitting me." I couldn't believe people actually thought of those constellations.
"Well, the last one was crap, but the other two are as real as you and I."
"You got me, but maybe Happernicus will be the next one named." We laughed again, I enjoyed it, his company. "Look! Look!"
"A shooting star!"
"C'mon, it's a meteorite."
"Still, don't be boring. Make a wish!" He nudged my head again.
"Alright, alright. I wish-"
"Not out loud! It's like you don't know the Universal Wishing Rules, or UWR."
"UWR, you are a nut." But I fell silent and wished. I wished very hard. I wish for one thing only. I wish to remember. A few more seconds of silence passed. "So, what did you wish for?"
"UWR number 3, don't tell anyone a wish you have made."
"You have a list!" I broke down. "A list of wishing rules! You can't! You just can't!" The laughter was filling the roof but it was only mine.
"Well, fine. If that's how you want to be." Beast Boy started to get up, and I sat up with him.
"Wait, wait. I'm sorry. Please, tell me the rules." There was a pause as he thought whether or not to.
"Fine," he sighed, "Rule One: Don't talk about UWR. Rule Two:"
"Don't talk about UWR." I interrupted. "Fight Club, the guys loved that movie."
"Oh damn, and here I thought I was being witty."
"I wouldn't go that far." I grinned. "But do tell me."
"Alright, really this time." He took a breath in to prepare himself. "Rule One: Don't speak your wish allow when you make it. Rule Two: Only make wishes when seeing shooting stars, breaking wishbones, blowing out candles on a birthday cake, or tossing a coin into a wishing well or fountain. Rule Three: Don't speak of your wish after you have made it. Rule Four: Don't wish for death." He paused a moment. "That's really all the ones that are need-to-know."
"The four main UWR." I sniggered, "I'm sorry, I can't hold it back anymore." The damn burst and I was left cackling in its wake. The Universal Wishing Rules, I loved it. "How did you come up with these?"
"I've had them for a while, actually." I was still giggling, and I didn't want to press too far into his past without stopping the laughter first. I lay back down, hoping he'd do the same. "Well Gem, I've told you something embarrassing about myself, do the same." The green man slowly lowered himself back down, head next to mine.
"Alright, if I'm being honest, I'm really glad I stayed up here tonight."
"Me too." And then we lay there, just breathing and staring up at the stars. It was slightly tense, neither of us wanting to make the first move. I don't think I would this early. I really just met the guy a few days ago. Beast Boy may have seen and felt more of me, but he probably felt the same way too.
"I don't…" I started.
"Yeah." He finished, his soft tone comforting.
"Alright. Want to sleep up here, watching the stars?"
"Yeah." He yawned, adjusting his uniform a little bit under his head.
It was a warm night, one that would be full of life and vibrancy for those that lived in the city. But they wouldn't be able to see the stars, the lights would outshine everything above. They always miss this sort of experience, the bright lights from afar, spending it with someone you-
"What was she like?"
"She was awesome." He said, emphasizing each word. "She was confident and passionate. She really wanted to help people. But she got led astray and started working for a terrible person." Though his voice didn't change, I could feel him shaking. He was probably crying while trying to keep it together.
"Sounds like you really loved her."
"Yeah, we had a lot of great times together."
"If I may ask, how did she die?" There was a sharp intake of breath. "I'm sorry, I take back the question."
"No, don't do that. I haven't talked about it with anyone, none of us really want to remember." He got up soon after and moved back to the bay side of the roof.
"Alright," I got up sat down next to him, "tell me about it."
"It was in a fight against Slade, an evil asshole that tormented us for a while. She had this dream and he used it against her to turn her against us. Eventually we got her to trust us again, though, but she felt so terrible, so much guilt..." I put my arm around the crying green man, he lost this one person he cares so much about. "She sacrificed herself, stopping Slade and allowing us to live."
"So live for her." I whispered, rubbing his arm. "Live for her." I used my powers to bring over the shirts, "Here, let's head inside."
"Wait." I looked at him, "You've been awake less than a day and I've shared more than with Raven, Starfire, or Robin."
"If it makes you feel better, I've told you just about everything that I can remember… though I guess that includes various sciences that deal with the air." I took a moment to take my own breath. "My first memories were wandering Jump City. I remember the hunger gnawing at stomach and the issue of not having any identity. Soon I was in a mall hoping to get food from the trash of what others threw out when I met those guys and they took me to wharf district." Now I've started crying, "I don't even know who I am."
His head touched my shoulder, and we sat in silence. Occasionally I'd rub his arm and he'd sigh. Sometimes I'd even feel a small drop of liquid hit my shoulder, a tear he couldn't contain. We listened to the bay, watched the stars, and felt our heartbeats until the sun peaked over the city behind us.
"We should get going, we've stayed up all night." I motioned behind us. Getting up, I put on my shirt and gave him his to wear. "I'll see you at breakfast." And I walked to the lift.
"Breakfast? What time are you thinking?" He asked, shoving his head through the hole in his uniform.
"Nine o'clock. Try to get a little rest first." Then the lift descended. I wasn't planning to rest though, I just had the best night of the life that I could remember. I returned to the room they gave me, grabbing a new shirt and brushing my hair. It was a quaint room, not to my liking, but they wouldn't have prepared a room like this for me. It must have been the room for the woman Beast Boy was talking about. Lying on the mattress, I looked at the clock that was placed near the bed. "6:03. Maybe I can get two hours in." I reached over to grab the clock. Fiddling with it, I finally managed to set the alarm to seven fifty-five. And soon I was asleep.
There was this blaring noise coming from my left. It was annoying and loud. When I looked, it was just the alarm clock I set a few hours earlier. I begrudgingly got up and got ready to head downstairs.
After a short walk to the kitchen and dining area, I walked in to be appalled at the sight. It looked like a disaster had gone off. They had a well-equipped kitchen, but it was dirtier than the place I stayed before the tower, everything was dirty. They must not have done the dishes for months. What did I get myself into?
The first thing I did was rummage to see what food they had. They had a good stockpile of food, but it was mostly nonperishables. The one thing I did find in the refrigerator was some fresh strawberries, butter, and soy milk. I checked the nonperishables again, and sure enough I found what I wanted. First, though, I had to clean some stuff. I tried to contain the mess in the counter space next to the sink, the table, and half of the island. I grabbed the least dirty bowl, cutting board, and frying pan I could find and started to get some wash water going. I was pleased to find utensils and a flipper that was clean. First I had to wash where I was cleaning, and experience I didn't think I would have to do. Cleaning the stovetop and the counter immediately to its left was all I could get in before having to start cooking. I almost looked in the oven, but decided it was best that I didn't. I thoroughly washed the bowl and frying pan and gave the utensils a quick rinse. Grabbing paper towels to dry them off, I soon got to work preparing the meal.
It was really simple, just some strawberry pancakes. There wasn't much else he could do given the horrific state of the kitchen. He was about to put the batter on the pan when Beast Boy walked in the kitchen, yawning with his large mouth.
"Morning." I said, letting the batter drop into circles on the pan.
"Morning. What are you making there?" He scratched his belly.
"Just some pancakes with strawberries. How do you guys survive this kitchen?"
"Well, we usually don't cook. And when we do, it's for ourselves or we have to leave really quickly. Issues of being a superhero."
"I bet, ever hire a maid or some other cleaning service?"
"Mhm," He paused to yawn again. Morning was clearly not his best time. "But most of them left after a few days, we get can get pretty messy."
"No doubt. Shit! I forget to wash some plates, could you do so?" I asked, motioning towards the sink.
"Sure, no problem. Let's see… these plates." He grabbed some plates from close to the top of the pile, but it shifted a bit and we both glanced at each other. "Close, but wash time."
I was standing there with three pancakes on a flipper and the pan off the heat. Then I thought about my powers and my ability to use them without being judged. I placed the pancakes onto solid air, and had them float there until Beast Boy was done. I started the next few right away.
Raven walked in, reading a book as she went towards the refrigerator. "Beast Boy, you're awake before 10?" I think she was surprised, but her inflection and facial expression stayed pretty stagnant. "And you're cleaning? Who are you?" He chuckled a bit, continuing his duty to cleaning. "And you're awake and not fainting, that's good. What are you making for breakfast? Floating pancakes?"
"They're only floating because it's so dirty in here. Once Beast Boy is done with those plates, they'll not be floating anymore." I said, continuing with cooking.
"Probably a bad idea, Beast Boy is pretty useless in a kitchen."
"I'm right here you know." He said, turning to give the plates to me.
"Put them there, I motioned with the flipper, and catch the pancakes." He did just that, but caught the pancakes with his hands.
"Well, those are yours. I meant with the plate."
"See, told you!" She smirked, opening the refrigerator. "Where are my strawberries?" She asked, staring directly at me.
"I may have used them… Sorry, I should've waited for him but I wanted to make breakfast for the food he made yesterday." Her glare was like cold and darkness shooting from her eyes.
"I'm claiming some pancakes in recompense." She was all matter-of-fact and neither of us wanted to get in her way. Soon a plate took to cleaning itself and a bottle came from a cupboard. "Pancakes without syrup, who does that?" She chided. "Do you have a name yet?" She asked, standing next to Beast Boy.
"Gem." I replied, flipping some pancakes.
"You took her strawberries and lived. That's the stuff of legends right there." Beast Boy remarked, shoveling food into his mouth.
"You know pancakes are made with eggs, right?" She scowled at him. He stopped right away.
"Wait, wait," I waved the flipper, "I found this vegan batter mix in there and used the soy milk."
"Thanks!" He beamed, finishing off the pancakes he had. Giving the next batch to Raven, I gave her a smile and mouthed 'Thank you' to her. There was plenty for the three of us, but if the other three Titans wanted in, it would get a little sparse.
"I would've made something else as well, but I had to do some cleaning and I'm not exactly sure how to do tofu. Looks pretty gross to me."
"Good idea." Raven chimed in. "These vegan pancakes aren't half bad." I did a small bow and faked tipping my hat to her. "And we have a gentleman! It's nice to finally have one around here!"
"Hey, what am I?" Beast Boy spoke up between mouthfuls.
"Definitely not a man." She laid the bait and he took it. I chuckled as well.
"Hook, line, and sinker." I smiled, finishing up the next pancakes.
"You know," he started, grabbing more pancakes, "I think this is the first time anyone's cooked for more than themselves in a few weeks."
"You may be right." Raven agreed. "Hands off that last one, I'm taking it upstairs." Beast Boy backed off and let her have it as she left. "Glad to see you two are getting along." She said, reopening her book and continuing on her way.
"But seriously, you touch any fruit if we're not stocked up, you die. You just got a freebie on life, Gem. Take advantage of it." He smiled, pancake still in his mouth.
"C'mon, don't talk with your mouth full."
"Rae's right, you are a gentleman."
"Maybe. I wouldn't know." I finished another batch, and started on the last. "Alright, these last ones in the pan are mine, you can have those other ones if you want."
But it then the communicator went off, calling the Titan to battle.
"I guess I'll be seeing you." Grabbing some more pancakes on the way out.
"Alright, don't die!" I waved as he ran off. The life of a superhero, being on call at all times, sounds as painful as it must be rewarding. I returned my attention to the pan and the food I was cooking. It was done in a few moments and I turned off the burner. This is pretty damn good for vegan stuff. I thought, eating what tasted to be a normal, strawberry pancake. But soon the food was gone and I was left alone in a very dirty kitchen.
"Might as well do the work no one else will." I started working on cleaning the pots and pans. The dish water wasn't very hot, so I only got through a few before having to refill it. I quickly air-dried the clean dishes and tried to put them away only to find that the cupboards had a layer of dust in them. I quickly blew the dust away, making sure that the dust went exactly into the trash and not onto anything else. Then the pots and pans were stacked nice and neat. That's how most of my day was spent, scrubbing, brushing, and cleaning the dismal thing called a kitchen.
It was seven p.m. by the time I had finished. Tables, counters, dishes, drawers, floor, chairs, everything was spotless. And, of course, I felt my stomach rumble. I groaned in my reluctance to dirty anything. I flopped into one of the chairs, hating the fact that I was hungry. The door opened, bringing in the Titan crew minus one green fellow. They were carrying plastic bags with brown bags inside, it was very odd.
"Yeah, and then he just thought that he'd fight without any of his technology. Sometimes geniuses aren't very smart." Cyborg seemed to be finishing up a story.
"Long fight?" I inquired, sitting up in my chair.
"He's here." Robin spoke into his communicator, probably to Beast Boy.
"Long, but not difficult. Looks like you had a long, dangerous battle with the kitchen." Raven responded.
"But why would our new friend go to battle against the kitchen? He has made it so wonderful!" Starfire's cheery disposition was much more in person than in stories.
"Star, it's a figure of speech." Cyborg retorted.
"Oh, like 'shake a tail feather' or 'put a lid on it.' Then the battle must have been…" I tuned her out, I'm sure she'd get it eventually but it seemed like a train wreck to get there.
"Thanks for cleaning the kitchen Gem." Robin spoke over Starfire's rambling.
"No problem, it's not like I had anything planned anyway." I shrugged, "But at least you guys went shopping."
"Actually, Raven was the only one who went shopping. I also heard you survived her fruitless rampage this morning." Robin smiled at Raven, well aware of the fire he played with.
"Yeah, we decided to get Chinese!" Cyborg spoke up, holding what must have been four bags of food.
"… and so, our new friend was cleaning the kitchen and the battle was the cleaning!" Starfire burst out louder than before. "Oh, thank you friend!" She moved over very quickly, picking me up and entombing me within her arms. Breath left my body very quickly and I was left gasping. Everyone laughed, clearly this must have been a common thing with her.
The door opened and in came Beast Boy with several bags of his own. "Starfire, you should probably let him down." He mused, seeing me being crushed.
"Alright, we can sit down now. I'm dying for some lo mein." Cyborg interrupted. Plates and forks were grabbed and everyone was sitting, food being distributed. There was a lot more food than there would be for a normal group of six people. Cyborg and Beast Boy were next to each other, each seeming to take close to the same amount of food while shoveling food into their gaping mouths. Robin was at the opposite head of the table, eating what must have been some beef dish with white rice while using chopsticks with precision. Raven and Starfire were in the seats opposite Cyborg and Beast boy. Raven having her own dish and Starfire eating like the two men across from her.
"Quite a lot of food." I remarked, trying to prompt a discussion at an otherwise silent dinner. I grabbed for some fried rice, always a safe choice.
"Well we need it for these three." Raven pointed at those stuffing their mouths. "They use up a lot of energy, so we tend to get a lot."
"Plus we have you." Robin joined in. "After Beast Boy told us about what you can do, we got enough for two more normal eaters."
"Hey, I'm not that fat." I said, looking at my own figure.
"Naht sahyin' we thoagh thah." Beast Boy chimed in quickly, spewing food everywhere. Cyborg gave him a quick slap on the back of the head.
"Thank you." Raven said, wiping food off of her cheek.
"But you weren't sure just how much energy I'd use in a normal day." Robin continued.
"Thanks, for remembering about me." The last part was much more of a whisper in hopes none of them would hear it. Raven and Robin gave a short glance, but ignored it as I took a bite of food.
"Rae said you'd probably give us our kitchen back. And since we haven't gotten groceries in a long time, we figured we wouldn't go out so late at night." He shrugged, eating more.
"Well, I don't plan on cleaning this all the time. I'll just have to get you guys to clean up your own dishes." At that everyone stopped eating for just a moment and stared. I started laughing and everyone joined in. It was pleasant, everyone was eating and happy. "Seriously though," I smiled, "I'm not doing anymore dishes today."
"I'll do it." Beast Boy chimed in, mouth clear of food this time. The others seemed shocked by this, he really must not clean very often.
"Just like this morning? Doing dishes?" Raven asked.
"Whoa, BB, you'll do dishes twice in one day?" Cyborg was even more surprised.
"First time for everything." Beast Boy retorted, fist on his chest in a pose of faked nobility.
"I'm sure friend Beast Boy will do a marvelous job at cleaning." Starfire joined in, giggling right after. The conversations continued, drifting from cleaning to previous missions, to book and what is like to be read before returning to their previous missions. Before any of us had noticed, it was nine p.m. before Raven finally dismissed herself for meditation. Cyborg and Starfire both left, something about videogames and watching bright lights dance across the screen. And it was left to Robin, Beast Boy and I. There was no food left, even the two more dishes than normal was completely eaten. I guess that's what happens when you have three ravenous superheroes.
"So, Gem, what do you think you can gain from the Titans?" Robin asked. Beast Boy started cleaning up the table, throwing out containers and taking plates and utensils to the sink.
"What do you mean?" I wondered. He didn't respond and just looked through his mask. "What can I gain?" I took a moment to think about the days I could remember. The days with issues and the days in secrecy leading to the day of confusion and discussion. "I want. I want to be happy." The words surprised even myself. Beast Boy looked over his shoulder from the sink and Robin looked up.
"That's new. For most it is to help people, to gain control, to not hurt others." He said, clearly prying into my motives.
"Well, couldn't those be towards the same goal of being happy?" I asked. "Those reasons can all bring personal joy."
"I suppose they can," He agreed, "Anything less long term?"
"I'd like to figure out who I am. But I suppose that that can have its own problems." I toyed with the idea.
"How do you mean?"
"If I were to figure out who I was before coming to Jump City, I might spend the rest of my life atoning for what I've done." I paused for a moment. "But if I didn't find out who I was, I might never know that I was responsible for something wonderful… or terrible."
"Deep." Beast Boy added after a few seconds in silence. A minute passed before Robin spoke again.
"I've made up my mind. I want you to do some training with us and maybe go on a mission or two."
"What will happen after that?" I asked.
"Depending on your performance, maybe we will ask you to join us. Having another set of hands and powers would really benefit the Titans."
"Would it be here?"
"Depends. Right now we can fit one more, but we shift around if needed by other divisions." He explained.
"Sounds good to me. What else would I be doing?" He thanked me and got up from the table.
"Excuse me, I'm going to make some preparations. Your card will get you into the danger room and the operations room when I've made the changes."
"Just the two of us again." I looked at Beast Boy, washing the dishes. "And they know my name and a little about me. I see someone's a gossip."
"A little," he laughed, "But only really your name, what you can do, and the fact you can't remember much."
"You probably spoke to Robin too."
"Yep. I told him you weren't a terrible menace."
"Thanks for that, really." I smiled at him whether or not he would turn and see it.
"Though I did tell Cyborg more than the others. Not about you! Just about what happened last night and this morning." He was nervous as to how I'd react. I'm glad he told me though, that's something I can respect.
"Really? What did you say?"
"Just that we talked until dawn about stars and Terra and the history that you remembered."
"Terra…" I muttered, it must be the woman he described.
"I left out the penis part, the holding parts, and the crying parts."
"Lots of things that make it what it was." I was a little disappointed. Beast Boy seemed like a guy that wasn't afraid, didn't care what others thought.
"Yeah, but Cyborg's all about machismo." He turned from the sink. "I just didn't want to have to endure ridicule for something that I'm not even sure on."
"Ah." I looked away. I couldn't expect him to be solid on whatever this is when I'm not like a rock myself.
"Hey," he walked towards me, "I don't know now, but I don't think you do either." I nodded in agreement. "And that's alright. Let's enjoy the moment for the moment, and see if anything comes of it."
"Alright, just don't go touching my penis again." I blushed while laughing.
"Damn, taking away all my fun." He feigned pouting, returning to the sink for the last few dishes.
"I haven't flown around today, I've been cooped up cleaning. I'll see you later." I got up and walked into the hallway, wondering about everything that just happened. I think I have gained most of their trust, I'm up for potential Titan-ing, or whatever they call it, and something's happening with Beast Boy. I got to the roof, moved to the edge, and fell again.
I pulled up sooner than before, but I also tried going faster. And faster I went, I flew above the bay and into the city. I danced between the buildings, taking great care to not hit buildings, antennae, or any other poles. I spent a few minutes doing this, testing my agility during flight. Cutting corners a little quicker, diving down under bridges and pulling up in time, and stopping a few feet before colliding into trains or traffic. The surprising thing is that it wasn't difficult. Although I had only started using my powers a short while ago, I felt comfortable and didn't feel any strain no matter what I did.
"Ah, I found you." A voice came from next to me on the building I was on.
"Beast Boy!" I smiled, "What brought you over here?"
"You said you'd be on the roof, but you didn't say you'd be on the roof in the city."
"I actually did mean the Titan roof. I must have gotten caught up with flying."
"What does it feel like? Flying in your natural form without much thought?"
"It's the best experience I could ever hope for. I love it. The wind in your hair and the ground far away. It's great." I'm sure my eyes sparkled with what I felt.
"That sounds wonderful. It's the same way with me and being an animal. I love my natural form, just look at me!" He said, striking a pose. I chuckled, he was such a carefree person. "So don't get me wrong, but being an animal just has certain freedoms."
"Here, come with me." I held out my hand for him to grab. When he did, we jumped. But we didn't just fall, I had the air catch us and keep us stable. "Now all you need to do is walk. And hold onto me, it makes it easier." And then we took our steps and we continued into the city.
"This doesn't feel much like flying."
"It's not, more like walking. Would you like to fly?
"Eventually I'd like to try it." He squeezed my hand for assurance. "But for now, this is quite unimaginable.
"I figured so." I pulled him along, "Let me show you a wonderful sight. Close your eyes and trust me."
"Always." He half-whispered, thinking I wouldn't hear it. But then we were off. I made it more than walking or running, we were in full flight. His grip tightened as he felt the speed change.
"Don't worry, just taking us out of the city for a moment." We flew for a few minutes, heading straight over the bay and into the ocean. "Here." I said, stopping our flight.
"Where are we?" He asked, opening his eyes to the sight before us.
"Just outside Jump City Bay, over the ocean and back towards the city. Here you can see the city lights in the distance, and a small amount of sun behind us. And in between, stars and ocean. Even Happernicus" I pointed to the false constellation.
"You're right, it is wonderful." But he wasn't looking up or out, he was looking at me.
"You know, you should look around when you say that."
"I could, but it would still be the truth either way."
"Sorry in advance." I didn't allow him to respond as I pulled his lips into mine. He protested for a moment until he realized exactly what was happening. There, above the blue and beneath the black, we floated and started something new. We devoured each other's energy, his deep, defined green against my lighter pink, accepting each other in an inferno of passion.
Things are picking up!
Screw timelines and alternating. I want to be fair but what I feel like writing isn't.