Chapter 29: Wide Open
Beastboy blinked sweat from his eyes and glanced over at the digital clock.
7:26am.
He heaved a sigh, glad that his morning training session was nearly over. He had been in the gym for the better part of an hour. After rising at 6, he had had a small breakfast and immediately hit the training floor. As usual.
It had taken a remarkably small amount of time to change his sleeping habits. During his training with the Doom Patrol, he had been up at 5 every morning to start the. He had fallen back into the deeply ingrained sleep pattern fairly quickly. To be fair, the fact his bed had the ability to conduct an electrical charge if he didn't get up or went back to sleep had helped enormously.
Motivation hadn't been much of a problem either and that had been one of his biggest worries. Where would he find the inspiration to get up and train? He used to have enough trouble getting out of bed when the Titan's alarm went off. It had come to him during the third week of his training when a sort of routine had been established and the novelty and excitement of training with the bat clan had lost some of its shine. Beastboy had lain in his unusual bed in his unusual room, glaring at the alarm clock blaring in his ear. He missed his own bed, he missed his family, missed his life and the temptation to just fly away had been never been stronger. But then the image of a lifeless Raven hovering in a healing trance had jumped into his mind, then an image of a falling, screaming Terra. He had shaken his head violently, steeled his eyes and heart, and gotten out of bed. The faster he grew and the harder he trained, the quicker he'd be back home.
It was this thought that motivated him to keep pounding away at the heavy sandbag at 7:28am, trying to incorporate his new mastery of breakdancing into his movements just two minutes before the session was meant to finish. There was no point in slacking; it just wasted time and inevitably kept him there longer.
Not that he didn't enjoy being here. Batgirl had become a fast and intriguing friend. Although recently he hadn't seen that much of her. Alfred was always good for a dry, sarcastic comment and his new self-imposed mission to provoke any sort of emotional reaction from Batman was going hilariously. If painfully.
Beastboy was struck by a sudden thought as he threw a powerful haymaker, the shock causing him to miss the bag altogether, lose his balance and topple to the floor in a sweaty, exhausted heap.
Intriguing, sarcastic, unsmiling.
He frowned as he realised that he had just summed up Raven. 'Man, I miss them all,' he thought to himself, picturing his gray skinned teammate and the rest of the Titans. He felt a familiar emptiness when he considered his family, miles away, fighting crime, laughing and joking, all without him. He had found himself thinking of the Titans a lot since Raven had visited some twenty days ago. 'Has it been almost two weeks already? Man, time flies when you're training to exhaustion every day,' he thought, pushing himself off the ground and seeing that he was finally free to go.
Beastboy quickly grabbed a towel and a bottle of water from the gym fridge and left the large workout area, wiping the sweat from his bare arms uncomfortably. He was wearing a tight sleeveless 'wife beater' and black, baggy sweat pants. He didn't mind the shirt but he found the loose bottoms almost unbearable. He had no idea why; it just didn't feel right.
He quickly made his way to the Batcave exit, the familiar laser beam scanning him as he approached. Beastboy grinned, still delighted at the experience. He walked up the rough passageway and exited out the grandfather clock panel, then turned and began navigating the veritable maze of a mansion to his room.
After kicking off his clothes with relish, he had his first shower of the day. As he stood under the jet of water, he nervously turned his thoughts towards what was to come.
Alfred had scheduled another interview and Beastboy was not looking forward to it. Not one bit.
Still, it wouldn't do to disappoint the Englishman, so Beastboy finished up, put on fresh workout clothes with a grunt of annoyance and made his way to the bat cave entrance room.
Alfred, dressed in his usual pristine suit was already seated by the blazing fireplace when Beastboy ambled in.
"Good morning Master Beastboy. I trust your morning has been productive?" He enquired politely, a welcoming smile on his ageless face. Beastboy smiled back, the butler had a knack for putting him at ease despite the circumstances.
"It's been alright so far thanks, Alfie." Beastboy settled into the chair opposite, "No one has kicked my ass yet so there's that."
"Indeed," Alfred responded tightly. He had taken it upon himself to try to educate the young man in Queen's English. It appeared he still had quite the mission ahead of him.
"So, eh, more questions, right?" Beastboy asked nervously, fidgeting in his seat.
"That's correct, Master Beastboy and I'm afraid we shall be dealing with matters of a more personal nature on this occasion."
The green teen took a deep breath. He really did not want to know what exactly that meant. But it was going to happen one way or another. Best to get it over with.
"Okay, ask away."
Alfred studied the boy in front of him. He was obviously uncomfortable but the steely eyes and high chin said he wasn't as afraid as last time. Already an improvement in demeanor and attitude.
"I'd like to start by discussing your past relationships."
"You…you mean like…girlfriends?" Beastboy asked incredulously.
"As you say, previous romantic attractions," Alfred confirmed, eyes steady.
"Uh…" Definitely not what Beastboy had been expecting. "There's not really much to tell. I've only had one girlfriend and I'm not even sure if that's what she was. We never really talked about it."
"Please, continue." Alfred prompted.
"Well, it was about, uh, a year ago. A girl called…Hey, don't you already know all of this?" Beastboy accused, not wanting at all to talk about Terra and realizing someone had probably researched into his relationship with her.
"To an extent Master Beastboy, but I find one gains a more defined picture of the situation when engaging face to face. Do you not agree?"
"Eh, sure?"
Alfred smiled. The boy was deflecting again. This called for another approach.
"Would you feel more comfortable, Master Beastboy, if I asked you specific questions instead of asking you to broadly explain?"
"Yeah, let's go with that." Beastboy agreed, not feeling the slightest bit better about what the hell was happening.
"Miss. Markov and yourself were engaged in a relationship for how long exactly?"
"Well, like I said, we never really got that stage. We went on a few, I guess they were dates, but things never really got that serious."
"I see. And this is the only relationship you have developed that you would consider romantic?"
"I guess, although that's probably a stretch as well, considering what was really going on."
Alfred watched Beastboy furrow his brow, tighten his jaw and look away. It was doing no good to have him dwell on this subject. Time to change it.
"How physical was your relationship with Miss. Markov?"
Beastboy's head snapped up and Alfred had to suppress a chuckle at his expression.
"Wha-What do you mean?"
"I mean, Master Beastboy, did you and Miss. Markov ever engage in sexual relations?"
Beastboy nearly fell off his chair at the blatant question. The words sounded so weird coming out of the conservative Englishman's mouth. Although the way he phrased it actually helped lessen the impact.
"What?! What kind of question is that? What does that have to do with anything?!"
Alfred didn't rise to the verbal explosion.
"It is a necessary question. Please answer it."
Beastboy sank down into his seat again, crossed his arms and glared into the fire. "No, we never even kissed, much less had…did that."
'Interesting,' Alfred noted, watching the clearly awkward hero squirm. 'It's true that young heroes are often too preoccupied to explore the more natural aspects of growing up, but this is a red-blooded 18-year-old male. An animalistic male. Such an embarrassed reaction would be more commonly found in a 12-year-old. This warrants investigation…"
Speaking in the same pleasant tone he always did, Alfred continued on. No longer amused at the childish display before him, but concerned.
"According to my research, the two of you were close for some time. Was there a reason the two of you never became intimate?"
Beastboy squirmed in his seat. 'God, even sparring with Bats is better than this.'
"I dunno, she never…made any moves in that direction. And it never even occurred to me."
Alfred's eyebrows twitched and he rearranged his legs as he considered. 'A 17 year old not entertaining the idea of physical intimacy?'
"Have you ever engaged in sexual relations Master Beastboy?"
Again the green head snapped around indignantly, eyes wide and mouth open to shout. But he didn't.
Instead, Alfred watched as a dark cloud formed over Beastboy's face. His eyes narrowed as he glared down at the floor.
"Look at me, I'm a green freak." He spat. "What do you think?"
It took an awful lot for Alfred Pennyworth to show visible signs of surprise. But such was the change in Beastboy's demeanor from endearing embarrassment to venomous self-deprecation that he couldn't help but let shock show on his face.
'This is important,' he reflected, schooling his features. 'This could potentially be the very base cause of a large amount of the trouble he currently faces. I need to handle this delicately.'
Where to start, though? Alfred hadn't found himself so unsure of how to proceed in a long time.
"No, I haven't." Beastboy clarified, filling the silence. His eyes burned into the ground like the fire beside him.
"And you are under the impression that this is the case due to your being, in your own words, 'a green freak'?'" Alfred asked, tone turning decidedly colder during the quotation.
Beastboy folded his arms and turned to stare into the fire, the reflected flames tinged green in his eyes.
'He looks…angry with himself. It appears he did not intend to reveal his true feelings on the matter.'
"Your teammate; Princess Starfire."
Beastboy shot him a look, confused at the sudden change in direction.
"Do you find her to be unattractive?"
"I…I've never really thought about it before." Beastboy stammered, glad in the change of direction.
'He's being truthful." Alfred noted. 'It seems the boy lacks basic sexual awareness.'
"But no," Beastboy continued, "She's beautiful. Everyone knows that. She's the one that's always in the magazines and online."
"Despite her distinctly orange skin tone?" Alfred delivered bluntly, raising an eyebrow.
Beastboy frowned, seeing the trap he had ben led into.
"That's different. She's an alien, she's allowed to be different. And besides, it doesn't stop her being ridiculously good looking. It's not that different either. She could probably blend into a Florida beach scene with no trouble."
"What of your second female teammate, Miss. Raven?" Alfred smoothly transitioned. "She possesses a skin color as unique as your own. Do you find her to be physically undesirable?"
Beastboy's face seemed to clam up, skin turning a dark mottled red.
Unbidden, the sensations of the hug he had forced on his teammate during their recent meeting sparked through his skin. The cool touch of her breath on his shoulder. The press of her form on his body as the two meet. And at the very edges of his memory, just beyond conscious remembrance, the gentle tracing of small hands on his jaw.
Alfred watched the show with no small amount of amusement. 'Ah, to be young again.'
"Master Beastboy?" He probed gently.
The young hero shook his head, throwing the thoughts of his mind.
"Am I correct in believing your answer to be an affirmation of my statement?"
Beastboy looked at him, sensing an opportunity.
"You know, I really hate it when you do that."
"I do not follow, Master Beastboy. When I do what?"
"When you speak in that over complicated way."
"I do not communicate in overly complex terms."
"Well, to me you do."
"Would you prefer me to, to use a common term, 'dumb down' the way I verbally interact with you?"
"That would be awesome."
"Indeed. Alright, Master Beastboy I shall attempt to acquiesce your request."
Alfred steepled his fingers together in front of his face, appearing to consider deeply as Beastboy looked on. He couldn't believe it. He had dodged the topic and would now be able to understand Alfred. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Do you think Raven is sexy?"
Beastboy drew back as if Alfred had slapped him across the face, his expression going far beyond embarrassment and astonishment.
"Is that more agreeable to you, Master Beastboy?"
"…No…" Beastboy squeaked.
"Ah. Then I shall take your response as both a resounding affirmative of the initial query and an invitation to resume my usual linguistic conduct. Are we in agreement?"
Beastboy swallowed dryly and nodded, not have much of an idea what was going on but just glad Alfred hadn't said that word…again.
'Truly an abnormally strong response. I wonder what Master Wayne will make of it. Still, time for a change in attitude I believe.'
"So, you find your teammate physically agreeable, despite her freakish skin color?"
"She's not a freak!"
Alfred didn't react to the sudden outburst. He had seen it coming. He inwardly sighed.
'I do have trouble accepting it when Master Wayne is right in matters such as this. Physical attraction is one thing. This is quite another.'
Beastboy reined himself in, taken aback by the strength of his response. He awkwardly sat back down in his chair, looking anywhere but Alfred.
"You say this despite the girl's skin color, heritage and powers?" Alfred politely enquired.
"She's not a freak," Beastboy repeated, calming down but eyes still hard. "She…she's just… I don't know…special."
Alfred smiled at the confused titan."Heed your own words, Master Beastboy. If you find her attractive, despite her standouts from normality, it is entirely reasonable to suppose there are those that view yourself in much the same way, Master Beastboy."
Beastboy opened his mouth to deny what Alfred was saying. What part of the statement he didn't know, but some part of it! He paused and tried to force his brain to catch up with the situation. He quickly spoke before Alfred could.
"Look, it doesn't matter. I shouldn't have said anything, it's fine. Just ask me the next question."
It had been the first time in a long time Beastboy had been such an uncomfortable position. He shouldn't have said anything, dammit! Even if it was true. He hated being scrutinized and examined. His instincts were to fly as far away as fast as possible. How had this man managed to break down his decade old defenses so quickly?
"As you wish, next question," Alfred smoothly moved on, leaning forward to address the hero opposite. "Do you believe Miss Dayton to be a 'freak?'"
Emerald eyes fixed on those of the butler at the sound of Beastboy's surrogate mother's name. Real anger flickered through them. It didn't seem to overtake the teenager this time, as he managed to speak in a tight, but controlled voice.
"I thought we were done with this."
"You were incorrect."
A silent battle of wills was fought. Alfred coolly met Beastboy's glare with a face devoid of expression.
"Answer the question."
"Of course she's not a freak!" Beastboy exclaimed angrily. "Say that about one of my friends again and I'll-"
"My dear boy, do not mistake me. I was not stating my opinion on the subject, I was merely asking for yours."
Beastboy threw his hands up in exasperation. The man was making no sense!
"Well, obviously I don't think that! Why even ask me the question?!"
"I am trying to ascertain what you deem to be a freak, Master Beastboy. Because I must confess, I am somewhat puzzled as to your definition of the term."
Beastboy felt his anger drain out of him at Alfred's pointed, penetrating stare. He wasn't that much of an idiot. He knew what the man was saying.
Didn't change anything, though.
'That's enough for now. Pushing him further will only produce negative results. Winning a discussion does not produce change in the silenced. Time to return to the matter at hand I believe.'
"Returning to our original point, Master Beastboy, how often do you masturbate?"
Beastboy started, eyes bulging.
"DUDE! What the hell?"
"It is a simple question Master Beastboy. There is no need to feel ashamed."
"I'm not ashamed! Because I don't-I don't do any of that!"
Alfred raised an eyebrow. "No?"
"NO!"
"I see. Well, I think that will do for today Master Beastboy, please-"
The door slammed shut behind the teen.
Alfred remained still, face impassive, listening intently.
"Well," he said to the empty room, "What do we think of that display?"
A shadow moved in a corner of the high ceiling. A fully costumed Batman dropped to the ground silently before striding over to take the seat Beastboy had so recently vacated.
"Unnatural." Came his clipped tone, regarding Alfred seriously. "As half-animal, he should be far more in touch with his basic instincts than any teenaged boy. Instead, he is the complete opposite."
"Indeed," Alfred agreed, feeling a rare weariness in his bones. "To reach the age he is without a sexual awakening of any kind…"
"I think it may be more than that." Batman interjected. "Taking into account his body type, lack of facial hair, voice pitch, height, rounded face and submissive behavior, it appears as though he has completely missed puberty."
Alfred nodded once. "Such a thing is not unheard of. There have been cases of severely delayed puberty. 'Kallmann Syndrome' if memory serves. But do you really think that is what he has?"
"No." Came the instant response. "I don't."
Alfred raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"I need to run some tests, but I think he himself showed us why he is how he is."
Alfred nodded, understanding. This would be interesting, to say the least.
"How is Miss Cassandra?" The Butler asked with a slight bite.
Batman grunted. Batgirl had secluded herself from everyone for a few days after 'overhearing' the conversation between the two regarding Beastboy and Raven's potential bond. She had thrown herself into training and her nightly patrols, injuring herself and others more than usual. Alfred had taken it upon himself to give her a very stern talking to, dropping many references to Beastboy's questioning of where she had gone.
This, in turn, had led to a very rare emotional outburst from the normally stoic girl, throwing her arms around Alfred and confessing the strange feelings in her stomach and the recent emptiness in her chest. Alfred had helped her as best he could and in the end a lot of healing progress was made.
Still, Cassie had avoided interaction as much as possible lately and it worried him.
"Better," Batman stated mechanically. "I talked to her."
Alfred's expressive eyebrows almost reached his receding hairline.
"Did you indeed Master Wayne? How did it go?"
"I think she has gotten over it."
Alfred dropped one eyebrow, leaving the other high.
"I was referring to you."
Batman glared.
Guh.
So there's another one. Just a couple more days 'till the next. Sunday Maybe?
Now we're actually getting into the meat of the story as far as I'm concerned.
Things will move faster now than they have before and I hope that doesn't throw you guys 'n gals off that much but I really want to just push along to the stuff I'm actually excited about.
Let's do this.
CJB