Chapter 34 Bonding

Beast Boy rested on the couch in Titans' Tower's living room. He sunk back, trying his best to get comfortable. The purpose behind this was distraction. He wanted to distract himself from all the horrible things going on right now. The Titans had the fate of the entire multiverse at stake; thinking about something like that for more than a few minutes was bound to make someone overwhelmed. A fact that Beast Boy knew all too well.

However, that wasn't all he was focusing on. The thought of the Ravens, stranded dimensions apart from the rest of their teams, made his stomach churn. The churning only grew stronger when he imagined his Raven, stuck in a place so unlike her home and trying her best to run away from the two monstrous demons who wanted her and her double (as well as all the Titans really) dead.

That thought caused him to sweat, which was never a good thing for Beast Boy as his sweat always smelled (had something to do with his animal superpowers, or at least that was what he figured). He got up from the couch, realizing that sitting down was doing a horrible job of actually relaxing him. So, he turned on his heel and went to the kitchen, hoping that doing so would allow him to get a bite. Food would be perfect at the moment; food never failed to put him in a good mood. He was just about to enter through the door when he stopped, blinking at the scene. Both Cyborgs and the other Beast Boy stood over the table. Cyborg had attached a whisk to his arm, and now he was stirring some kind of pink batter.

Beast Boy stepped in, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Yo dudes, what are you doing?"

Cyborg smiled when he saw his best friend. "My Cy told me about a whole new thing we could try in the kitchen!"

"Oh yeah?" Now Beast Boy was at the very least interested. "And what's might that be?"

Cyborg grinned. "Cake waffles!" He continued stirring the batter. "I found out this recipe a while back. Basically, you put cake batter in the waffle iron as opposed to waffle mix!"

Beast Boy's eyes grew wide. "Woah! That be genius, yo!"

Beast Boy laughed. "I more or less said the same thing." He gave a playful smirk. "And let me tell you, I don't think I'm ever going to eat regular waffles again. Cake waffles are just too darn great!"

Beast Boy couldn't help but agree. Seriously, it was such a fun and smart idea that he was surprised none of his teammates tried it before. He hopped in a seat, watching as Cyborg whipped up the cake batter (which judging by the color he was pretty certain was strawberry). His mouth watered so much that he could fill a reservoir (not that anyone would be willing to drink out of that particular reservoir, but that was neither here nor there). His stomach growled as well, getting chuckles from everyone present. After a little bit, Cyborg was finished making the batter and turned toward the waffle iron, situated and plugged in on the counter. He ladled the batter in, all while he had a smile on his face and a glitter in his real eye.

"Well… I think this should be ready in a little bit. We just need to wait."

Beast Boy nodded. He figured there was no better way to help the time go by quicker than starting up a conversation.

"So, Tall Serious Titans. Do you, uh… do you guys watch TV?"

Beast Boy's eyes glittered. "Uh, yeah! Pretty much all the time!"

Cyborg chuckled. "It's pretty much our main pass time. Nothing is better than plopping down to watch your favorite show after a whole day of whooping butt and taking names."

Cyborg grinned when he heard that. "The two of us our the exact same way!" He exclaimed, his voice rising to super excited levels. "Well, I mean, aside from the butt whooping thing."

Beast Boy blinked. "You guys don't do superhero work?"

"Oh no's, we certainlys be doing that." Beast Boy chuckled. "We just don't likes doing that. Sometimes, we completely ignores the crime alert when a good TV show is on."

Beast Boy and Cyborg stared at him like he had just escaped from Arkham Asylum. It was then that Beast Boy felt a little embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head, hoping that his and Cyborg's doubles weren't judging the two of them too hard. Although… he wouldn't really blame them if they were.

"O…kay…" Cyborg opened up the waffle iron, placing the strikingly pink breakfast items on a plate. "Well… I sure hope that you guy's version of Jump City doesn't experience too much trouble."

"It… doesn't." Beast Boy bit his lip. "I means…. There is the police force. Oh! And Titans East."

Beast Boy gasped. "No way! You guys have a Titans East in your world too!"

Cyborg nodded. "I mean, our worlds are more or less identical, so…"

Beast Boy still smiled. "That's awesome!"

"Ehh… not reallys," Beast Boy said. "Titans East and we aren't exactly on the best of terms."

Cyborg smirked as he got another waffle out of the iron. "Probably has something to do with you guys not taking your jobs seriously." He said that just loud enough for the Goofy Titans to hear, and it made both of them sink back a little bit.

"We… yeah, we aren't exactly the best superheroes…" Cyborg said as he put his hands behind his back. "We… we could really improve in quite a few areas in that field."

"But that's be why coming across you Serious Dudes is so great!" Beast Boy smiled, looking at the Serious Titans with a sort of adoration and approval. "You guys be the best superheroes in the whole Multiverse thingy! If there's anybody who coulds helps our team approve by watching, it be you!"

That caused both Beast Boy and Cyborg to smile. However, it wasn't really pride that either of them had in their expressions. More like… humility.

"Thanks man," Beast Boy said. "That's really nice to hear."

Cyborg got a third waffle out of the iron. "Yeah." He chuckled. "I don't know if we're the best superheroes in the multiverse, but… yeah, your comment was appreciated."

Beast Boy chuckled. Man, if this display of genuine humility was anything to go off of, it meant that the Serious Titans were the best superheroes a city like Jump City could ask for. Putting themselves out there for the sake of the people, stepping right in the line of fire to protect everything they held dear… why didn't his team do that? Seriously, all they did was dance and eat and sleep. They really needed to think about their approach to crime fighting; maybe everybody and their Mama wouldn't see them as the worst kind of jokes this side of Gotham. Just a thought…

Anyway, Cyborg quickly finished with the last batch of waffles. He turned toward the lot of them with the most satisfied smile ever seen. "Well, here we go guys." He set the plate on the table. "Hopefully these will be even better than the waffles my dad used to make."

Cyborg gasped. "Your dad my waffles too?!"

"Yep! And he was the greatest at it!" Cyborg's shoulders slumped. "At least, before he died…"

That caused everyone to squirm. "Oh." Cyborg directed his head down toward the table. "Yeah, dying was the worst thing he ever did." He chuckled. "But hey, at the very least our dads left us with cool robot bodies! That's gotta mean something, right!"

Cyborg did a double take, looking like his double had just said the most ludicrous thing in the world. "Man," he said, sounding absolutely mystified. "This goofy dimension is certainly something else."

Beast Boy didn't know what he meant by that, but honestly, he was too entranced by the sight and scent of the waffles to care. After Cyborg got butter and syrup out of the fridge, the boys all dished themselves and began chowing down. The second the first bite hit the top of Beast Boy's tongue, he felt as though he had found his one and only true love.

"Oh Mama…" He smiled. "This be the absolute best."

"Isn't it?" Beast Boy asked as he stuck another bite in his mouth.

"Yep!" Beast Boy chuckled. "Only thing that be missing from this is a side of bacon strips."

Beast Boy nearly dropped his fork. He stared at his double, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped. "You… you eat meat?"

"Uh, yeahs." Beast Boy took another bite. "Who doesn't?"

Beast Boy did double take after double take. He also had what appeared to be a smidgen of disgust in his expression. "Uh… nobody, I guess." He refused to look at his double from that point on, instead placing the bits of waffle into his mouth with a tentative body language.

The awkwardness carried to the others at the table. All four Titans ate their food slowly, not really daring to speak. Beast Boy was ultimately the one who broke the silence.

"I hopes you guys' Robin can come with a good plan."

"Oh he will." Cyborg smiled. "He always does."

"Yeah," Beast Boy said as he wiped his mouth. "And he's really good at working under pressure. He'll find a way to help us get back to our dimension."

"I hopes he do." Beast Boy's ears drooped as he looked back down at his waffle. "I hate to think about Rae rae in a completely different universe without any of her friends."

Beast Boy blinked before chuckling. "You're really attached to your Raven, aren't you?"

Both Cyborg and Beast Boy snickered. "How much time do you have?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah." Beast Boy shook his head while sporting a smile even he would admit was absolutely mushy and gushy. "My Rae rae…" he sighed, the sound dreamy. "She be amazing. Everythings about her be perfect. Her hair, her skin… the way she glares at me with her four red eyes when she be mad… the way she slaps me with her telekinesis when she be particularly annoyed…" He almost melted into a lovestruck puddle right then and there. "She be perfect." He sighed. "I onlys wishes she would let us date again."

Beast Boy looked shocked for the second time in the last five minutes. "Wait, you guys dated?" When Beast Boy nodded, he looked like he was going to faint to the floor. "That's… that's…!"

Cyborg laughed. "I guess that means you need to step up your game, BB. If this version of you goes out with Raven… well, I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that it's fate." He wiggled his eyebrows and gave Beast Boy the biggest of all grins. "BB and Raven, sitting in a tree..." he laughed really hard.

This caused Beast Boy to shrink back. "I, uh… I…" He stuttered so much, like there was not a more embarrassing thought in the world than him going after and smooching his Raven. And, as much as Beast Boy hated to admit it, he found this funny. He even exchanged a look with Cyborg, who looked at the taller green changeling with a knowing sort of look.

"Well… anyway…" Beast Boy righted his posture and looked at the two Goofy Titans sitting with him. "The point is you shouldn't sweat it, BB." He took another bite of his waffle. "Robin will come up with a plan. I'd bet my most comfortable pillow and all my cute anime dolls that he would."

Beast Boy's heart sunk. "I hopes so." He ate at his waffle some more. He really did hope that would be the case. And really, hoping was all he could do at the moment. Hoping and believing in Robin.

Huh. Believing in Robin. What a scary thought…