Chapter Text
xoxo
Chapter One
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Adaptation (n.) - a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.
It is arguably the crux of civilization, adaptation is—the core.
How else are people able to survive such volatile and unpredictable weather with each changing season? How else is it possible for humans to fly in airplanes or drive through tunnels, and not have their heads combust due to the popping of their eardrums? How else are humans able to discover new cultures, infiltrate foreign societies and learn different languages?
Ah-dap-tay-shon.
Learning how to adapt was easy for Raven. She had been doing it all her life, after all, from the day she had been born. And this was a necessity. She was the daughter of a ruthless and all-powerful demon bent on world domination, the ultimate source of evil, and was unfortunate enough to inherit some of his magic. His dark magic.
She had the power of telepathy and telekinesis. She had the power to cast the most wicked, sinister and disastrous spells. She had the ability to cast herself into people, into their brains and souls, and make them go insane. And the control over such volatile powers was linked to one thing: her emotions.
She could not get too happy. She could not get too sad. She could not get too excited. She could not get too mad. She could not afford to feel too much of anything. And if she did?
Poof. Shatter. Kaboom.
So she would meditate. Constantly. Day in and day out. Whenever and where ever she could, because she could not risk it. She would force herself to remain calm, train herself to remain absolutely calm no matter what the situation was.
It was absolutely integral to Raven's survival that she learned to adapt. She was dangerous.
And she was on a teenage, crime-fighting team of superheroes.
As the only human of the team, it was not strange that Robin would be wary of them all. Cyborg was a bionic man, fully equipped with an interchangeable sonic canon for an arm and a computerized brain that could find information faster than the speed of light. Starfire was an alien princess with the gift of flight, the ability to shoot bolts from her eyes and fists, and the strength of millions of men hidden underneath her lithe physique. Beast Boy had the ability to change into any animal in the world, both known and unknown.
But Raven was dangerous, and the young leader had always been just a touch more watchful over her than he was over the others.
Once he learned of the extent of her powers, he did not kick her off of the team. He did not send her away, telling her that her presence on the team was detrimental to the city and to the rest of her teammates. Instead, he began to check in on her. Quite frequently, at that.
His excuse?
"I'm your leader. It's my job to look after you."
Of course it was his job to look after her. It was his job to step in whenever Beast Boy's jokes got a little too out of hand, or whenever Starfire invaded her space without meaning to. It was his job to make sure that she was in a good place, both mentally and emotionally. And it had only become his job because he was afraid of what her powers could do, afraid of her, and she was sure that this was the only reason he assigned her to be his second-in-command.
This was not cynicism, and Raven was not insulted. She was used to it. She was used to people being afraid of her and her powers. She was used to being constantly checked on just in case her emotions would cause her powers to run amok. She was used to there always being an agenda. So, she allowed Robin to do his little checkups and allowed him to ask his little questions because it was his job, and she did what she always did.
She adapted.
.
Upon joining the Teen Titans, Raven fought evil villains, and they all paled in comparison to the true evil of Trigon the Terrible. She helped to protect and defend a city that seemed to be prone to crime. She helped people. She used her powers for good, something that she never would have thought possible with the knowledge of her heritage and impending future looming at the back of her head. And along the way, the unexpected happened: she made friends. These friends, her teammates, became her family.
She attended car shows with Cyborg and he even let her work on the official T-car with him. She found a sister in Starfire, one who insisted on trips to the mall, girl talks, and eating anything and everything with mustard. She discussed books, movies and poetry with Robin, and found in him a match for her intellect when playing board or word games. She even indulged in Beast Boy's jokes, because even she had to admit - not to him - that some of them were pretty funny.
This was not something that she was used to, this... camaraderie. It made her feel strange, not a bad strange, but a good sort of strange. Raven could not show it very much, but this made her happy. She was glad to be fighting evil villains, protecting a city prone to crime, and using her powers for good and helping people with her family. It was wonderful.
Until Slade returned.
Of all the villains the team had faced, Slade was undoubtedly and undeniably the worst. He was the most intimidating and the most intelligent of them all. He was always at least half a step ahead. He was the one who managed to get deep, deep underneath Robin's skin and into his head. And he was supposed to be gone.
None of the Titans believed it when their leader told them that their most infamous enemy had returned. But he was adamant. He was adamant in his claim that Slade was back. He was adamant in his claim that Slade had set up seismic generators at the key ports of the city. He was adamant in his claim that Slade had cooked up a diabolical scheme to split the city right in half. He was adamant in his claim that Slade was the one who beat him up so badly. He was so adamant that he threatened his own teammates, his family, not to get in his way on his search for Slade.
"I know what I saw! I have to stop him! I'm the only one who can! And I'll take down anyone who gets in my way!"
Robin was frantic. He could not even think clearly. His emotions were all over the place, in a frenzy, and it was not long until he became so adamant that he went crazy. Possibly crazier than her powers could have ever driven him.
And it was her powers, her dark magic, that saved him.
.
The moment that their brains had melded, and consequently formed their bond, was the same, exact moment that he began to make sense.
Raven had always been curious about her mysterious leader, as were the rest of her teammates. He was their arrogant, fearless, protective and complex commander who often forgot just how human he was much too quickly. Curiosity was only natural, especially when one considered to how many lengths he went in order to keep his past and his identity hidden from everyone—villains, teammates, and fellow heroes included.
But when she was forced to thrust herself into his mind, into him, she discovered who her leader was.
His name was not Robin. Instead, he was Richard Grayson, the one and only son born to John and Mary Grayson. Together, the three of them constituted a skilled aerial act for a traveling circus: The Flying Graysons. The Grayson's, talented and daring as they were, drew large crowds and dedicated fans in every city they visited. With their act, they managed to maintain a successful career up until the sudden deaths of both John and Mary.
Both had been inadvertently caught up in a heinous web of deceit, a scheme of revenge that had been plotted against the circus owner. All it took was sabotage, the pouring of acid onto their trapeze wires, and snap! The wires fell apart and the two aerialists plummeted to their deaths in front of a stunned crowd—and their eight year old son.
Young Richard was not confused, he knew what was happening. He had witnessed the death of both of his parents with his own two eyes. It happened right in front of him, and he was devastated. But Batman was right there to save the day.
The vigilante and dark knight of Gotham City himself took the young orphan in, and was soon revealed as the billionaire Bruce Wayne. He adopted Richard as his son, and it was not long until the two bonded over the fact that both of their parents had been murdered by criminals. Soon enough, Richard grew to be not only Bruce Wayne's son, but his ward, his protégé, and his sidekick.
Thus, Robin, the Boy Wonder was born.
His history was dark, and it did not take very long for him to figure out that she knew. After all, he did study under the world's greatest detective. But for someone who valued privacy as much as he did, he did not threaten her to keep quiet. He was not even angry. Instead, he seemed to have accepted the melding of their brains, and in turn, sought out her companionship.
As his second-in-command, it was expected of them to spend long hours alone together. These long hours were spent looking over special cases. They were spent on long and in-depth conversations concerning ethics and morals. They were spent on the deliberation and careful consideration of a case before they both ultimately decided that "nothing is too big or too small for the Teen Titans." Each time these meetings were adjourned, the leader and his right-hand woman left and went their separate ways to handle their own private affairs.
Their new bond, however, changed that.
Rather than having long, and ethical, and moral, and boring discussions during their meetings, Robin seemed much more intrigued by the reality of being mentally linked to someone. Discussions about their bond turned into discussions about his past. Discussions about his past turned into discussions about her past. Discussions about her past in the meeting room turned into field trips to his favorite and secret hiding spots around the city, and vice versa. It was not long at all until their relationship flourished, and the transition from leader-comrade-friend to best friend-leader-comrade was almost seamless for them.
Such a shift in their relationship unnerved her a bit. It made her stop and think twice, because this was the same boy who looked after her because he was her leader. Because it was a part of his job description (Lead the Titans. Stay strong for the Titans. Look after Raven and make sure that she's happy, because once she blows up, so do you!).
Now, that, she could openly admit was cynicism.
"It's nice to finally have someone to talk to, y' know?"
"No one told you to keep your entire life and history a secret, Boy Blunder."
He laughed.
Yet as cynical as she was, she could also (and just as openly admit) that it was very nice to have someone to talk to. It was nice to be able to speak openly with someone without the fear of being judged or immediately targeted as a threat. It felt good to have someone encourage her, someone who believed in her when she failed to believe in herself, someone who took the time to try and understand her. This was a friendship that she greatly appreciated, and she knew that he knew it.
Their brains were linked, after all.
Whenever she grew suspicious of his watchful eye, he no longer replied with, "I'm your leader. It's my job to look after you."
His new slogan was now a warm and jovial, "I'm your best friend. It's my job to take care of you."
And he did take care of her. He watched her more closely and was more aware of her, both of these much more than he was when he was just suspicious and wary of her powers. They both knew that she could take care of herself—she was half demon and not too proud to argue this. But it felt good to have someone looking after her, not because they were afraid of her, but because they cared.
So she always responded with, "I don't need you to take care of me."
And he always shrugged. "I didn't make up the rules."
Although they both knew that she would never do such a thing, Raven swore not to speak a word of his history to anyone. But that did not stop her own mind from churning after receiving so much information about the one person she had always been curious about in just a matter of seconds. She mused over everything. All of the things that she saw, and all of the information that she received, and all of the emotions that she felt played over and over in her head—because it made sense.
From the day that she met him, he had been impulsive. Incredibly impulsive, and the word 'incredibly' is used because not only was this impulsive streak both difficult to believe and accept, it was also quite stupid and actually impressive that he was still alive. Along with being incredibly impulsive, he had a tendency to develop obsessions. Intense obsessions that were formed simply because whatever he was obsessing over was not as easily attainable as he would have liked—as he was used to. And this caused temper tantrums, one of which that grew to become so serious that he almost lost his mind due to the inhalation of dust from an old Slade mask that he had kept for himself.
Raven understood.
The way his brain worked, all of the tricky, little twists and turns, and dark caverns in his head began to make sense to her. The impulsive behavior made sense. The obsessions made sense. The temper tantrums that he threw whenever he did not get his way made sense.
She understood. She got it. She got him.
He. Finally. Made. Sense.
And so, Raven put her own little detective cap on and arrived to her own conclusion:
He was spoiled. Absolutely rotten.
Richard Grayson was not used to not getting what he wanted at the snap of a finger. He was used to instant gratification. He was used to his father's home and mansion, the famous Wayne Manor, and to receiving whatever he wanted and needed on a silver platter. This silver platter would sometimes literally be presented to him by his butler, Alfred Pennyworth. And this was all because Bruce Wayne saw himself so clearly in his new son, especially with the deaths of their parents, that he sought to do anything in his power to keep the boy happy.
That last part, Raven did not assume. He told her.
.
Ye Old Ice Cream Shoppe was the first and only ice cream shop that Raven had ever frequented during her time on Earth. It was very small and very homely, and very rarely was it ever full and bustling with customers, even in the summertime. But now, it was a late Autumn evening, and it was completely understandable that the shop would be practically empty. Who in their right minds would leave the comforts of their warm homes and actually go outside where the temperatures were dropping just to get ice cream?
Well. Them. Of course.
No matter how hot or how cold, and no matter how late or how early, whenever their schedules permitted it, the two friends could almost always be found in their regular booth in the back corner, just in case someone were to spot them. While it was true that the temperatures were dropping, and dropping fast, the two friends had quickly become accustomed to their little ice cream outings after the defeat of Trigon.
Raven had never even tasted ice cream before he offered to bring her to the tiny shop in celebration of her victory and the bright future ahead of her, and boy, was she glad that she had accepted his offer. All that talk about victories and the speeches of bright, new futures were pretty and inspiring, especially when they came from her best friend. She appreciated the constant flourishing of their friendship. But she appreciated ice cream a whole lot more—and he knew it.
Raven dragged her spoon through her ice cream and brought it to her mouth. Almost immediately, the tasty delicacy began to melt on her tongue, and she sighed in bliss. Cookies and cream. Her favorite. "So, you're a brat?"
A laugh slipped out of Robin's mouth and his dark brows jumped over his sunglasses. He did not have a favorite flavor of ice cream. True to his impulsive nature, he chose to try a new flavor each time they visited, and he was down the large menu by almost one-third. Although he did not have a favorite, he always liked to stir his ice cream before and while eating it. He liked it thick and smooth. Like frozen milk, he said once.
"Isn't that what ice cream is? Frozen milk with a bit of artificial flavoring?"
"Raven, please."
She simply smiled.
"The word 'brat' is so... restrictive," he began as he stirred his ice cream.
Today's flavor was Very Berry Café Mousse. She suspected that the mixing of berries, coffee, chocolate and fish flavoring would be disgusting, and that the mere idea of it tainted the very nature of ice cream's intended deliciousness. He waved her warning off in the name of adventure. But judging from how long he had been stirring, the adventure was over and he would soon have to admit defeat; his ice cream was looking a bit too much like regular milk instead of the frozen kind.
"I prefer rascal. Or even whippersnapper."
Raven scoffed, but a bit of a laugh escaped as she took the spoon out of her mouth. "One of those words is used to describe a mischievous or cheeky person. The other, a young and inexperienced person considered to be presumptuous and/or overconfident."
He grinned and the brightness of his smile made him look almost as young as the day they first met. "And they both describe me perfectly, don't you think?" As she allowed herself a low chuckle, he took a moment to grab a napkin and wiped his spoon down before pushing his bowl aside. He was obviously done with that disaster of a treat. "I'll never be able to understand how you managed to memorize the entire American-English dictionary."
She reached over the table to take the spoon from him, gathering up a large scoop of her own ice cream before passing it back to him. "I've also memorized the Chinese, Arabic, Haitian, Sri Lankan, and Latin dictionaries."
With a hiss, he shirked back, placing a hand over his heart and wincing as if he was in pain, and she smiled. Before their bond, she was sure that he was one of the stiffest sticks in the mud (as if she had any room to speak), but he was actually quite silly. "No wonder you're such a genius."
Her smile grew at the compliment. "Didn't daddy dearest make you do the same?"
"He tried," he declared with a scoff. At that, he began nibbling on the ice cream on his spoon. Even if it was not as smooth and soft as he normally liked it, he seemed to be liking his new spoon of ice cream much more than his first. "I kind of regret not taking it seriously. He wasn't lying when he said that language is a detective's greatest weapon."
Raven released another low chuckle and picked up another scoop of ice cream. "In Azarath, it was customary for school children to study the languages and cultures of other people. It was supposed to instill discipline while keeping us well-rounded and informed about the world around us. But because I was so dangerous and unstable, my study lessons were a bit... broader."
Robin nodded with a bit of a frown, and she felt his sympathy, understanding, and underlying anger not even through her empathy, but through their bond. It really was nice to have someone to talk to. "Well, you certainly are disciplined, well-rounded and informed." With no preamble, he stuck the spoon into his mouth and his face scrunched up.
A joyous laugh escaped Raven, and she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. Suddenly, she was very glad that the shop was practically empty. She cleared her throat, the remnants of a giggle slipping out here and there at the sight of his red face. "You have to take your time," she teased. "Don't be so impulsive and so spoiled, Richard."
It was at his request that she called him by his birth name, and she only did this when they were alone out of respect.
He took a moment to compose himself, smacking his lips a few times before swallowing. "That's not funny, Raven."
It was so, and he knew it. "Tell me. How disgusting is Very Berry Café Mousse?"
"Utterly," came his immediate response. He arched a brow. "What's the definition of that?"
"Completely and without qualification."
"Yup." He nodded in acceptance. "Very Berry Café Mousse is utterly disgusting. You win." He picked his bowl up and threw it into the trash can beside them. "I think I'll go try another one."
She raised a brow and picked up another scoop of ice cream. "Another one? And right after you trashed an entire bowl that wasn't even halfway done?"
"Something that only a spoiled brat would do, right?"
"A rascal, you mean."
"Or a whippersnapper." When she rolled her eyes, he stood with a laugh. "Hey. Say what you will, but you just remember who's paying."
"That's only because you never let me pay."
"Come on, Rae. You're my best friend. It's my job to take care of you."
"I don't need you to take care of me, and you know it."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't make up the rules." At that, he leaned over to place a short peck onto her forehead before making his way over to the register to order a new bowl of ice cream.
Raven simply wiped her forehead with the flat of her palm and gathered up another scoop of ice cream.
.
One of the greatest lessons Raven was fortunate enough to learn as a crime-fighter?
There were certain duties and responsibilities that came with being a superhero. Superheroes had a duty to fight crime, to help people, and to uphold the moral codes of justice as well as they could. That much was obvious. However important those duties were, the superhero's greatest responsibility is not to the citizens they protect, but to themselves.
Everything happened for a reason, and this always meant that a decision had to have been made. There is always a choice. There is always a choice to do right or wrong, to go left or right, to go up or down, to become a superhero or not. Behind this choice, there must be a reason why this choice was made, and it is absolutely imperative that the superhero knows why they chose to become a superhero. They must know their cause. They must know why they fight crime. They must know why they chose to fight crime.
At just fourteen years old, Raven was forced to make her choice. Trigon was a terrible monster, one that intimidated her far more than any of the puny villains the team faced every, single day ever did. This fear became her cause. She fought crime because she was scared. She chose to fight evil because she was scared.
But now, at seventeen years old, things had changed. Trigon was gone. The best part of it all? She was the one to make him go away with the help of her family. She could have easily retired after that. She had no reason to fight anymore now that the monster was vanquished. Yet, it was through this monster and its defeat that she learned her true cause.
Simply put: she liked to help people. And she could help people alone, but she would much rather do it with her family.
There were also certain duties and responsibilities that came with being the protégé of the world's greatest detective.
Guess which duties and responsibilities trumped the other.
"You're going to Gotham?" Beast Boy's voice broke the silence of the common room, cracking just a bit in disbelief.
Robin cringed under the weight of his teammates wondering and disappointed looks, wincing and recoiling a bit as he avoided their eyes.
Avoiding the eyes of your teammates, Richard? Tsk. Don't be so spoiled.
Raven, I swear.
Raven pulled her hood over her head before her smile could spread, but she was sure that he knew it was on her face.
Unlike her teammates, she was not shocked or surprised by their leader's sudden announcement that he would be leaving for Gotham at the end of the week. He had confided in her a while back that from the very day that this team was founded, his father and mentor made sure to send him one letter every month, and each one was signed off with an urgent appeal for Richard to finally visit home. It seemed that he had finally surrendered.
The young leader rubbed the back of his neck with a gloved hand, a testament to just how nervous he was. The fact that Beast Boy was the first to question him seemed to be speaking volumes. Finally, he sighed and met their eyes. "It's not like I'll be gone forever. I can't be gone forever. I'm the leader, remember?"
Still, Beast Boy's ears drooped and dangled. "I guess..." Suddenly, he sat up with a chirp and snapped his fingers as a bright smile grew onto his face. "You're right! You can't be gone forever because you're the leader. But you can't be the leader while you're in Gotham. You're only one person." He stood from the couch, saluting with one hand while the other was stiff at his side. "I volunteer myself as the stand-in leader-"
Cyborg was quick to challenge that motion.
The bionic man drew a leg back and kicked Beast Boy's backside, sending the green changeling flying. He stood tall with his fists at each side and a triumphant grin on his face, barely registering the pile of the pots and pans crashing in the kitchen accompanied by Beast Boy's groaning duuuude. "If anyone's fit to stand in for Robin while he's away and visiting old Batsy, it's me."
Starfire frowned. She hesitated. Then she looked into the kitchen, watching and waiting until Beast Boy made a sound, signifying that he was, indeed, alive and kicking. So, she returned to the conversation. "Friend Cyborg, I pray that you do not take any of the offense with what I am going to say. But if anyone is fit to take Robin's position as the leader while he is visiting the Man of the Bats, it is Raven, is it not? She is the second-in-command, and it is customary that she should take charge whenever and if ever the leader is away or unfit to lead. Correct?"
Cyborg's grin deflated into a rather un-triumphant frown. He sighed. "Star's right."
"Star is very right," Robin agreed. He consciously and deliberately ignored the big, green elephant tiptoeing its way into the common room and behind Cyborg.
Star flew into the air with a laugh, hovering above her previous seat on the couch as she clapped her hands. "How glorious! Friend Raven is to be our new and temporary leader!"
The elephant blew its trunk before wrapping it around Cyborg and tossed the bionic man aside like a toy. Then the elephant left and a confused Beast Boy scratching at his head took its place. "Raven's the stand-in leader?"
"Only if she wants to be," Robin clarified as he looked to her. "Do you?"
It was a miracle that Raven had not snorted right then and there. As if she wanted to be the head of this team. She loved them, she did, but they were a handful and she was including herself in that handful.
She did not want to be the one playing mediator whenever fights broke out over lost video games, cheated bets, and whoever's night it was to wash the dishes. She did not want to be the one launching full investigations whenever the T-car received as little as a smudge of dirt on the tire. She did not want to be the one finding random secret stashes of mustard all around the huge Tower. She definitely did not want to be the one keeping track of the steadily growing mold colony that was threatening to take over Beast Boy's entire room. Villains and paparazzi were the last things she ever wanted to think about.
Nope. No way. Raven was used to just being a part of the team, and she was just fine with it staying like that. She saw what horrible headaches Robin got. She healed them.
"No thanks," she politely declined. She ignored the way Robin's mouth turned up ever so slightly. "Cy can have it."
Cyborg, who had been stealthily creeping up behind Beast Boy, stopped with a gasp of glee and a smile fit for a pageant queen.
Starfire spun in the air with another, "Glorious!"
Beast Boy simply fell onto the couch, his ears drooping lower than before. "Duuuuuuude!"
"It's settled," Robin declared, and he grabbed Cyborg before the bionic man could get to using Beast Boy as the makeshift football in his victory dance. "We have much to discuss."
And it was a long and lengthy discussion. Starfire, the master timekeeper that she was, predicted this as soon as the door shut behind Robin and Cyborg. So, she took both of her remaining teammates into the kitchen and began working on not one, but three puddings. A pudding of celebration for Cyborg, a pudding of departure for Robin, and a pudding of rejection for Beast Boy.
"Hey! Starfire! I was not rejected!"
In its entirety, the production of the three puddings took five hours. Five whole hours of mixing mashed potatoes, eggs (and a bit of their eggshells "to ensure that little bit of kick!"), that weird and furry blue stuff that grew in the back corner of the refrigerator and mustard. Lots and lots of mustard. By the end of it all, the Tower smelled nasty.
Not disgusting. Not even gross.
Nasty.
Robin reclined into his seat at his desk, snorting a laugh out at Raven's recounting of the pudding debacle while she sat on his bed. He was doing work, and was is the operative term because he stopped as soon as she came. Visiting each other's rooms at the end of the day was not an adaptation, at least not on her part. It was more of a comfort, and it was very rare that she would ever be the one to come and visit him. He was usually the one to come and visit her, but she was sure that tonight was different simply because he was going to be leaving soon.
He sighed and there was a light smile on his face. He stretched his legs out in front of himself as he relaxed into his seat. "It might have been nasty, but the puddings are always nasty. It's Starfire. Who can say 'no' to her?"
Raven could only roll her eyes because it was true. No one ever could say 'no' to that girl. Even if there were three puddings involved. "You and Cyborg are just lucky that your little meeting prevented you both from having to experience that."
There was a pause.
"Truth?"
"Truth."
"Our meeting only lasted about an hour and ten minutes, and we could smell the pudding about thirty minutes before the meeting actually ended. Once the meeting was actually over, we snuck through the garage and went to the park."
Raven's jaw dropped.
"And we played one intense game of basketball-"
"I knew it!"
"You... You knew that we went to the park and played basketball?" The corners of his mouth turned up and into a curious smile. "Well, I know that you're a genius, but-"
"No," she interrupted exasperatedly. Honestly, for such a smart boy, it was easy to forget that he was just that: a boy. "I knew that the meeting couldn't have possibly lasted five hours. I don't care what's being discussed, it makes no sense that one meeting between you and Cyborg would last five hours."
He held his hands up in defense, but his wobbling mouth took away from his intended sincerity. "That smell was just... What's the definition of atrocious?"
"Horrifyingly wicked."
He snapped his fingers with a nod before slapping his hands flat onto his thighs. "Yup. Perfect. There we go. Horrifyingly wicked. Like Freddie Krueger's evil manifested into a scent."
A laugh slipped out of her mouth and he grinned. Before he could say anything about her forgiving him, because she just knew that he would, she pointed an accusing finger at him. "That isn't fair. If I had to suffer through the puddings, why should you be excluded?"
His face contorted into a look that could only be described as pure disgust, but he allowed himself a chuckle. "Fine, fine. I'll eat all three for breakfast in the morning."
That sounded pretty fair to her. She smiled and nodded in acceptance before a yawn slipped out, and she covered her mouth with a hand. "Later, I think you mean," she corrected as she looked to the clock sitting on his desk. "It's already two."
He made a noncommittal sound as he looked to the clock before slipping his mask off and setting it onto the desk. The first time she saw his eyes, she was shocked. Literally shocked into silence because he seemed to never take that mask off. And his response to her stunned silence: "I trust you."
"Why did you choose me to be your second-in-command?"
"Because I trust you. Why else?"
"I beg to differ."
"Go on and differ, then."
"You only chose me to be your second-in-command because you were afraid of my powers and wanted to keep an eye on me."
A snort. "As if I would ever be afraid of little, old you and your sparky boom-boom powers."
"I do not have 'sparky boom-boom' powers."
Another snort. "Right. Sorry."
"...and I'm not that little."
This snort was the loudest of them all.
As he stood from his seat, he stretched his arms out, popping and cracking a few things here and there with a yawn before making his way over to his bed. He laid down, slipped under the covers, and with a sigh, he rested his arm over his eyes. "Are you staying?"
The first time they shared a bed, it was completely inadvertent and only because they had both fallen asleep while talking. When she woke up the next morning to find him in her bed, she did not know what to think. She was actually still a bit too sleepy to really do anything but attempt to blink the sleep away. But, of course, like the spoiled brat he was, he did not think anything of it. He laughed, told a stupid joke and went right back to sleep.
This time, she was tired once again. Too tired to even teleport to her room, and it was all because of Starfire's nasty puddings. So although he could not see it, Raven nodded and slipped underneath the covers beside him. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she began to feel just how tired she really was and the effects of the late hour. It was not strange that the time would just pass them by like this. Time always seemed to fly by with her best friend. And he was going to be gone at the end of this week.
"How long will you be gone?"
"Just a few months."
A frown immediately began to tug and pull at her lips, and the feeling of embarrassment began to bubble in her stomach. Honestly, it was not like they had never been separated before. They had been separated from each other plenty of times. But this time, they would be separated while they were best friends. As babyish as it was, the thought really unnerved her a bit, enough for her to blurt out:
"How long is just a few months?"
His jaw ticked before he removed his arm from over his eyes. They were bright and blue and his thick, dark brows were knitted above them in concern. "Rae... It won't be for long."
Ugh. The way he said that just made it sound like she was going to be counting the days until he would return. She released a rather uncharacteristic huff and turned to lay onto her back, glaring at the ceiling. "I know that. I was just asking a question. Stop trying to baby me."
"As smart as you are, you should know that I can't do that."
The smile was clear in his voice and it made the corners of her mouth twitch upwards. What he said was the truth: he really could not stop trying to baby his best friend. Surprisingly enough, as much as she argued that she could take care of herself (half demon, hell-ooo!), it was nice to have someone constantly looking out for her. It was easy to adapt to this.
"It's just that..." She released a sigh, a slow and even breath past her lips. "We've been separated before, this isn't the first time. You just weren't my best friend those other times. This is the first time, and I guess it just clicked."
It was silent before he gave a sigh of his own. A heavy one. He shuffled in his spot before settling down. "I would be lying if I said that I hadn't thought of that either. I'm just glad that I wasn't the one to bring it up."
Although she made an attempt to fight it, her smile grew. It was nice to know that they were on the same page, and it was very rare if they were not, because, well, their brains were linked. She turned to rest onto her side and face him, only to find him in the same position. "But you have to go."
"But I have to go," he repeated a bit somberly. "I don't want to, but I have to." He hesitated, his fingers dancing between the two of them with little taps on the bed. "Listen, it won't be long, okay? Just a few months, enough time to get Bruce off of my back, and I promise I'll call every day."
She knew that he would. They never went one day without speaking. So, she nodded, but it was paired with a tiny scowl. "Didn't I tell you to stop babying me?"
"Didn't I tell you that I can't do that?" At that, he took her into his arms, bringing her into an almost bone crushing hug as he smothered her face into his chest.
"Richard," she deadpanned, her voice muffled. "You spoiled brat."
He laughed, and the vibrations of it made his chest rumble against her cheek. His arms loosened just enough for her to be able to poke her head out and meet his eyes with a glare. His laughter grew, and she just knew that her glare would have had much more of an affect if she had not been so sleepy. "I'll miss you, Rae."
She ignored his growing smile, rolled her eyes and hid her face back into his chest. Whatever. He was just lucky that she was so sleepy. "I know. I'll miss you, too."
He simply hugged her closer and placed one, single kiss onto her forehead. "Don't worry," he spoke quietly as he unwound an arm from around her, and he wiped her forehead with the flat of his thumb. "I got it."
A tired smile slid onto her face. As annoying as he was, she had to admit that she really would miss her best friend. She also had to admit that he was very warm, and that he smelled very, very good. She would miss him a lot, and not only because he made a such good comforter.
The tips of his fingers grazed her scalp and she released a soft sigh when he began to play with a few tendrils of her hair. He buried his nose into her hair and sniffed twice. "Your hair smells good."
"I had to shower to rid myself of the pudding smells." He chuckled, and she felt herself inching closer and closer to sleep. The feeling of his fingers in her hair paired with his warmth was almost a guarantee she would not be awake for much longer. "The three of them are all disgusting, and each in their own, special way. You don't have to eat them."
"No," he said. His voice was fading a bit. Just a bit. "I said that I would eat them for you, and I will."
She tried to snort, but it came out as a weak sigh. So, she resorted to slurring an even weaker, "You're so spoiled, Richard."
His laughter was the last thing she heard before she finally gave into the exhaustion and fell asleep.
.
"Friend Robin, I am delighted that you are enjoying your pudding of departure along with the puddings of celebration and rejection!"
"For the last time: I was not rejected-!"
"Yeah, Star. It's all... delicious. And none of it smells atrocious."
"Splendid! You will be having another bowl, then. Yes?"
Robin paled.
Beast Boy took out his camera.
Starfire smiled brightly for her photo op.
Raven snorted.
Cyborg dry heaved over the sink.
.
The days leading up to Robin's departure were fast and quick. They felt short, as they always did in the summertime. These days, however, felt much shorter, and everyone agreed that it was only because their leader and friend would be leaving. He was leaving—but not without leaving them with a few parting words first.
Their leader's parting words for them were not very comforting, to say the least. But they were his parting words. So, as they all stood on the bridge that connected the city to the great Tower and watched him mount his bike, they took it all into great consideration.
"Beast Boy, don't bother Raven. Don't give her any reason to kill you, or send you or your corpse to another dimension."
"Raven, don't kill Beast Boy. Don't send him or his corpse to another dimension either."
"Starfire, please try to keep the secret mustard stashes and bringing new animal friends to the Tower at a minimum."
"Cyborg... Please don't let Beast Boy bother Raven. Don't let Raven kill and/or send Beast Boy or his corpse to another dimension. Keep an eye out for any mustard stashes because they will stink up the place, and so will the feces of cute and furry woodland animals. I've left everything that you will ever need on my desk, so everything should be just fine. And don't worry, Raven heals headaches."
He revved his engine, and with a wave, he was gone.