The sun had risen and it was going to be a beautiful brand new day for Starfire as she ventured the hallways, hugging Silkie on her chest. While humming, she noticed an open door which seemed to be Beast Boy's room. She decided to take a peek, and as it turned out, she was quite surprised by what she saw.
Inside, the green teen was cleaning up all of his trash, putting them into a black garbage bag while wearing a mask, an apron, and a pair of yellow gloves. He then noticed the alien princess standing at his door.
"Good morning, Star!" he said as he continued to sweep the trash into the dustpan.
"Good morning, friend Beastboy." she greeted back in return, floating inside his room. "May I ask why are you doing the cleaning of your room?" she asked, confused by his sudden urge to clean.
"Nothing much, Star. I just wanted to take care of my own mess for a while." He replied as he carried a basket filled with his dirty clothes towards the doorway. "It's really starting to smell awful actually."
"Is that so? May I help you?" Starfire asked eagerly.
"Sure. You can carry all of my dirty clothes to the laundry room if you want." He said.
She then obliged as she put down the sleeping Silkie on his bed and started carrying the said laundry basket out of his room. While doing so, she saw Robin and Cyborg passing by.
"Oh hey, Star!" Robin greeted her, noticing the laundry basket she was carrying. "What's in there and why are you carrying it?"
"Oh, friend Beast Boy asked me to put his clothes in the laundry room." Star said with enthusiasm.
The two men suddenly found themselves astounded by what they suddenly heard. Cyborg interjected, "He did? Where is he and what's he doing?"
"Friend Beast Boy is in his room doing the cleaning." she answered honestly. This made the two of them even more dumbfounded and confused.
Beastboy? Cleaning? In his own volition? Those are words that don't work well together. To better confirm this, both of them rushed into Beastboy's room, leaving Starfire tilting her head in confusion, and taking a peek inside. Just then, both of them went pale and became horrified at what they had just witnessed. Beastboy was actually cleaning his room and he did it properly. The bed sheets were smooth and straight, all of his books were perfectly arranged in his bookshelf, even his toys were properly placed as well. Also, there were no signs of dust anywhere. Both Robin and Cyborg went even more pale and slumped to the floor, unable to fully comprehend what had pushed him to do this; as if he had defied reality itself with this act. After a while, Raven passed by and saw the two men on the floor, turning white.
"What's up, guys?" she greeted both of them, floating closer and taking a good look at them. "What's the matter? Afraid of the light?" she teased.
Robin slowly pointed his twitching finger towards what was inside the room, making her look in that direction.
"Oh, that?" said Raven, unphased by the situation.
"Why aren't you surprised?" Robin asked between gasps.
"Well, he'd been doing that ever since forever. He's known for being a clean freak, never leaving just a tiny speck of dust anywhere he goes." She explained, now going inside to greet her partner, who was currently folding his clean clothes. "Good morning, Gar."
"Good morning, Rae." he greeted back, giving her a peck on the cheek. Raven did the same. "Wanna join me folding my clothes?"
She nodded. "Sure." She then sat on the floor beside him and started folding one of his shirts. "It's been a while since I saw you doing the cleaning."
"Yeah. I can't believe I used to clean a lot. Now that our memories are back, whenever I am in my room and see this messy state, it irks me to clean everything a lot. I tried to fight the urge at first, but it was just too strong, so I gave up eventually. By the way, what's up with them? And why are they so pale?"
"Don't mind them; they just didn't believe you could clean. That's all."
"Well, that hurts." he said. They then both continued folding his clothes.
"Friend Beastboy! I have already put your clothes in the laundry room." Starfire exclaimed, popping out from the side of the door. "Hello, Friend Raven!" She greeted the empath.
"Hi, Star." Raven greeted her back. "Would you mind bringing them to the common room, please, sweetie?" she asked calmly.
"Sure." She carried the two of them on her shoulders without effort and started floating away with a smile on her face.
After a while, both Robin and Cyborg woke up from their unconsciousness. They noticed that they were in the common room, with Starfire grooming Silkie and Raven looking at the oven, wearing an apron and oven mitts. "It couldn't get any worse, right?" Both of them thought.
"Wait a second! What's Raven doing now?" They both looked at her and saw that she was wearing an apron and oven mitts. That only meant one thing: Raven was cooking, or in this case, baking. The sudden memory of the last time she had cooked pancakes for breakfast at her 16th birthday sent chills down their spines. Were they really prepared to endure another culinary disaster?
Just then, the oven rang and Raven opened the door, revealing a tray of nicely golden brown chocolate chip cookies. Both of them were bewildered, not only because they looked delicious, but the fact that Raven could actually bake. Was this also part of their recovered memories? Without knowing, Raven had already taken the tray out and placed the cookies inside the bowl.
"You can take some cookies if you want, sweethearts. I'll make some more eventually." Raven said, removing her oven mitts and going to the kitchen aisle to start making a new dough again. For the first time, the two men were never so conflicted in their whole lives. On one hand, they somewhat knew that just like last time, it would taste horrible and they needed to do something to prevent her from losing her confidence and never trying to cook again. On the other hand, the smell of the cookies she had baked was so good that no one could ever resist. But, at the end of the day, they needed to eat them or else they would feel guilty.
Starfire went first as she took a cookie and ate it. Her delight was evident in the way she squirmed around, clearly finding the cookie delicious. Seeing Starfire's enjoyment, they steeled their resolve.
"Whatever it takes!" They thought as they hesitated, then took a cookie and ate it. With hesitant chewing actions, they realized it tasted... delicious! No, not only that - it was divine and heavenly! Was this how cookies from heaven tasted? Both of them felt their bodies becoming lighter and more relaxed, as if they were floating on cloud nine. As it turned out, Raven could bake and cook, and they were glad she had.
Beast Boy entered the common room and spotted the bowl of cookies. "Cookies? Hell yeah!" He cheered as he took one and devoured it. "Mmhm! It's delicious as always!" He exclaimed in pure bliss, taking another one immediately afterward.
"Of course it does! I'm the one who made it after all." Raven said, still mixing the dough.
"Since when did she learn how to cook? And why is it so sensational?" Cyborg asked, still in cloud-nine.
"Oh, that's my wife for you!" he said. "She has been cooking ever since she was little. She perfected every cuisine she came across, even those passed down to her by her grandmother." He paused and smiled. "Even the entire neighborhood we lived in before had the same reaction as you two, to the point of having rumors about her. That's why she was called 'The Hands of Heaven.'"
"Beastboy, stop that! That nickname's too embarrassing!" The bearer of the nickname said shyly, not wanting to hear anything more about it. "Will you help me in the kitchen instead?"
"Yes, chef!" he joked, rushing to her side and starting to help.
Later that evening, everyone decided to go out and eat dinner at Pizza Corner, their usual spot whenever they wanted some pizza. As they were sitting at their respective tables on the pizza-like balcony, a waitress approached the team and took out a pen and a notepad.
The waitress asked in a cheerful tone, "What can I do for you?"
"We'll have a large pepperoni pizza and ice tea." Robin said.
"Oh, and a bottle of mustard too if I must." Starfire interjected merrily.
"Give me my five baby back ribs!" Cyborg shouted.
"Okay, noted. How about you, Mr. Beastboy? Do you still want your usual vegetable pizza and soy milk?" asked the waitress.
"Hmm... You know what? I'll get a pepperoni pizza as well," Beastboy answered, making everyone stunned, even the waitress. "And I'll also add a prime rib and a glass of Coke."
The waitress, despite not knowing this would happen, still wrote down his order. "What about you, Miss Raven?" The rest of the Titans suddenly looked in her direction.
"Maybe I'll have a vegetable pizza and a plate of chicken wings, please." Raven replied. That even made their dumbfounded expression worse.
"Friend Beast Boy, Friend Raven, I thought you didn't like meat or chicken?" Starfire asked.
"Well, maybe we wanted something new this time and that is eating my favorite meat." said Beastboy.
"The same also goes for me." added Raven.
"But still, neither of you eats meat or chicken!" Cyborg remarked.
"I know that since I said that eating meat is like eating your own self, but one, most of them are not green like me, and two, it's either you hunt or be hunted. That's how the wild works." Beast Boy justified.
Raven simply said, "I'm just craving chicken right now, that's all."
It looks like it will take them some time to get used to this change.
A quarter past ten in the evening, everyone else had retired for the night, except for Beast Boy and Raven. Little did the other Titans know, the two of them were currently in Beast Boy's room, sharing the same bed. Ever since three days ago when they had regained their past memories, both of them decided to share the same bed, as they were supposedly married before; there was no shame in doing so, and they would switch back and forth to each other's rooms everyday. Back at them, both of them were cuddling while having a worthwhile conversation.
"They must have a hard time adjusting to our world, don't you think, dear?" said Raven.
"Yeah. All I could see was their jaws dropping. I guess they never expected such a big change, and I can't blame them for that." Beast Boy replied. "I hope they are still patient with us. Just like them, we are still not used to our new lifestyle either."
"Knowing them, I think they'll understand us. Star already did." She then caressed his hand. "But I admit, I like them seeing it, them being dumbfounded and all."
"Now that you mention it, yeah. I can't believe they got as pale as a sheet of paper just because I wanted to clean my room." They both chuckled at the thought. "But seriously, I think maybe we should give them some time and space to adjust. The same goes for us too."
Silence took over the room. They wondered how they would be able to live the same way as before, knowing that things were different now that they had these memories. Eventually, Raven came up with an idea.
"John, I have an idea!"
"What is it?"
"Shall we go on a date this Saturday?"
Beast Boy thought about it for a moment. "I like that. I think I have an idea of where to go. We'll go there."
"Yes!" Raven silently celebrated. "We'll meet in the common room before one. How's that sound?"
"That sounds about right." Beast Boy agreed. "You do really know something, don't you?" He teased, giving her a peck on her cheek.
"Stop that, it tickles!" she tittered from her husband's teasing. It went on like that for a while before he eventually stopped to catch his breath.
"Dude, that was the best!" he exclaimed.
She replied, "Do you really have to say that?"
"Of course. I'll take this opportunity to dote on you and spoil you rotten." he then wiggled his eyebrows.
"Is that where your corny jokes come from?" she teased.
"Maybe. Regardless, I will do my best to make you smile."
"But you already have done that."
"That doesn't mean I will stop once I finish."
Both of them turned red, feeling the love in the air.
"Maybe we should get some sleep. We have things to do tomorrow." She said, adjusting her blanket. "Goodnight, darling." she added.
"Goodnight, honey." he said, giving themselves a good night's kiss. They each went to their respective sides of the bed and turned to sleep, embracing one another in their dreams.
The room was quite dark, only illuminated by the bright light coming from the computer screen. Robin, who was supposedly getting a good night's sleep, instead did some background checking and research on Beast Boy and Raven, specifically on John and Hannah, their past versions of themselves. As it turned out, he managed to gather some data, though some of the information was a bit incomprehensible due to either the age of the paper used, being redacted, or anything else. Regardless, he didn't stop cracking he code and investigating, as that's what he does best. After all, it would be a long time before they had to get used to this kind of lifestyle, so it was better to start early rather than never.
While browsing through the pictures, he spotted one of a man with chestnut brown hair in the center wearing a camouflage suit. To his surprise, it was John. Other than that, there are also other two men standing beside him were also wearing the same suit and had name tags pinned to their chests.
Grayson
Stone
Surprised by the revelation, his eyes squint as he tried to find out more about them. Maybe he could find something or two about what he accidentally learned from the information he gathered. After all, he had a lot of questioning to do.
