Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Eat Your Hero ❯ Dinner And A Show ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4: Dinner and a Show

 

The vegan grill was just down the road, as Beast Boy had proclaimed earlier in the day. It was a small building, situated between an organic grocery store and the game store that Beast Boy went frequently visited when new video games came out. Robin and Cyborg looked in through the window more than a little leery at the very concept of grilled vegetables. Beast Boy sighed, and sat down on a bench next to Raven who looked about with a look of complete indifference.

“Those don't look like grilled vegetables.” Cyborg said, pointing to some pre-made plates covered with food and visible to all, basic advertisements in this case, showcasing their selection.

“That's because they're not just grilled vegetables.” Beast Boy grumbled, “Dude, do you know what grilled spinach would taste like?” Beast Boy stuck his tongue out in disgust, Robin and Cyborg looking at him completely shocked.

“Do you mean that the foods are cooked differently?”

“Of course they are!” Beast Boy's arms were held out in front of him, palms upturned, looking at them with an exasperated expression, “What? Did you really think that all they served was grilled vegetables? Come on guys, give me a little more credit than that.”

Starfire looked over the shoulders of the embarrassed pair, Robin muttering an apology to a triumphant Beast Boy. Her eyes widened, “They have Mushrooms!” They all turned and stared at the girl, who had clasped her hands together and was apparently in a state close to ecstasy.

“Uh… yeah… they have plenty of mushrooms.” Beast Boy nodded slowly, unsure of a good response to Star's unusual reaction. Starfire floated a little higher then zipped for the door.

“Aliens.” Raven stated, shook her head and slowly followed, but not before looking at the menu to make sure they had herbal tea as Beast Boy had promised before she had accepted the invitation.

The Titans walked into the building and for a moment the room seemed devoid of sound. The entire room was staring at them wide eyed. The Titans weren't exactly recluses holed up in their towers, but it wasn't often that they collectively showed up to a vegetarian restaurant on a Friday night. Beast Boy tried to play it off coolly, but quickly blushed, rubbing the back of his head embarrassed, while waving with the other. “Hi…”

Behind the counter of the buffet like restaurant, a tallish, smiling, blonde haired man with glasses waved them over. Beast Boy sighed with relief, “Hey Paul.”

The man smiled a bit wider, leaning over the counter, “Hey Beast Boy. I see you finally got your friends to come along.”

Beast Boy nodded, “Yeah, hey Paul, wait until you hear the news…”

Starfire floated in front of him, viewing the large platters of food that were dolled out and then cooked. Her mouth watered over the mushroom section, “I want that.” She said, pointing to a small plastic container that was filled with mushrooms.

Paul raised an eyebrow to the rest of the Titans, and then turned to Starfire, “The mushrooms?” She nodded and he started dolling it out, “Now, what else will you have?”

“Nothing else.” She said cheerily

Paul raised an eyebrow, but then tilted his head to the side in a shrug, “Ok.” Smiling, he lifted the plate and handed it to her, “Here you go.”

“More please.” She said, looking at the plate with an ever-widening smile.

“Ok…” Paul put some more on the plate, looking up to Starfire to see when to stop. She didn't shake or nod her head so he continued placing more mushrooms on the plate, looking up at her to see if that was all. He eyed the Titans again, desperately, as he ran out. They looked as surprised as he did, staring at the massive mound of mushrooms on the plate. He bit his lip, looking up at the superhero that was floating in front of him, “I'm sorry, that's all we have…” Starfire frowned, but nodded, taking the plate and heading to the register, leaving the Titans and Paul in silence. Paul shook his head, watching the Tamaranian princess who was now paying for her meal, “Beast Boy…” He turned, shaking his head in awe, “I have never, ever seen someone want that many mushrooms. Is that all she eats?”

“No… it's actually the first time I've seen her eat mushrooms.” He mumbled, staring as Starfire dug into her plate, devouring most of the pile in mere moments.

The entire team and the man behind the counter stood in stunned silence for a moment longer before Paul looked away, then winced, “Ah… yeah… sorry, there are people behind you, so, can I take your orders?” He pointed and the Titans saw a small amount of people waiting patiently behind them.

“Herbal tea, no milk, no sugar, just the hot water and herbal tea.” Raven stated plainly.

Paul nodded and quickly set up her drink, handing it to her and then moving onto Robin, “What will you have, sir?”

Robin looked at the menu, “I think I'll have…” He frowned, “… the Caesar salad?” The very thought of eating salad for dinner made him queasy, but it was the only thing he really recognized. He took the plate, winced a little, and then walked to the register.

Cyborg stared at the menu with a look of complete disgust. Beast Boy was shaking his head, “Dude, you want me to order something I think you'll like?” Cyborg frowned, but nodded. Beast Boy pointed to one of the meals that was on display. “He'll have the whole grain spaghetti and tofu meat balls with organic tomato sauce.” Cyborg balked, but Beast Boy smiled at his friend, “Trust me.” The meal was quickly prepared and given to the distrusting Cyborg who eyed the plate with a combination of fear and loathing.

Beast Boy nearly pushed his friend to the register then returning to finally order his meal, “I'll have the stir fry vegetables with bean curd stew on the side.”

Paul nodded, quickly preparing the order, “So, what's up with your friends? I mean… the one girl had only mushrooms. What's up with that?”

“She's from a different planet, you should see their food!” Beast Boy said, looking back at Starfire.

Paul was quickly tossing the vegetables in the wok around, steam and boiling oil flailing around the vegetables, “Ah, but the others didn't know what they were ordering, except the girl in the cloak.”

“Yeah, Raven, she drinks herbal tea all the time, I think I saw her eat an apple, once.” Beast Boy shrugged, “As for Robin and Cy, well, they don't eat much vegetarian.”

Paul nodded, handing his meal, “Before Mrs. Mushroom interrupted, you were going to tell me something. What was it?”

Beast Boy's eyes lit up, “Hey, Paul, can you make sure that the TV is on and the volume is up at eight tonight?”

Paul shrugged, “Sure, now enjoy your meal, I've got other customers to serve…”

Beast Boy nodded, paid for his meal and walked over to where the rest of the Titans were sitting. Robin picked at his food, eating a little bit at a time; much like the bird that was his namesake. Starfire had finished her platter, and Raven was sipping her tea. Cyborg had not touched his food, looking at it as if it was some of Starfire's cooking. “Ah come on man, try it.” Beast Boy said, bits of vegetables coming from his half full mouth. Raven moved her chair a few more inches away, shaking her head, and then returning to her tea. Cyborg felt everyone watching him, and, finally bowing to pressure, took his fork, grabbed some of the spaghetti and stuffed it into his mouth.

The others watched in anticipation of a reaction. Cyborg paused, nodded, and with a full mouth commented, “Hey, this isn't bad BB.” He sucked into the noodles and started to devour his food with the speed he usually reserved for his own cooking.

The spaghetti was gone before anyone knew it, but the two `meatballs' sat on the plate. Beast Boy eyed Cyborg cautiously, he had been expecting this, “You gonna finish your meal Cy?”

“Uh…” Cyborg had been avoiding this since Beast Boy had joined the team, “… yeah.” He replied reluctantly, stabbing one of the meatballs and bringing it to his lips so slowly it was painful. He opened his moth and put the meatball a fourth of the way in, even though he usually stuck the entire meatball in his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing. He had braced himself, anticipating the worst, a taste so horrendous that he would be forced to spit it out… what he found was something similar to his normal meatballs. The texture was different, much, much different, not a crumpled together jumble of meat, but a rather bumpy, chewier taste. The taste was similar to his normal food, slightly off, but more palatable than he had ever expected.

Beast Boy frowned slightly, the look on Cyborg's face was confused, unsure. He wasn't enjoying it. He hated it. Now Cyborg would never turn to vegetarianism… “This isn't half bad.”

Beast Boy looked up from his doubts and delusions, “It is?”

Cyborg nodded, sticking the rest of the meatball in his mouth, “Not as good as the real thing, but not bad.”

Beast Boy jumped from his seat, throwing his arm into the air in complete elation; he had gotten his foot in the door with Cyborg. Maybe now Robin would try it? Beast Boy looked to Robin who was shaking his head at Cyborg, while sticking his fork into the remnants of his salad. His arms fell a little, but suddenly a yell from behind grabbed his attention, “Hey, Beast Boy, you're on TV! Hey, everybody, Beast Boy is on TV!” Beast Boy turned, Paul, who had turned on the TV and had been watching it during the lull, had yelled to him. There was a small murmur from the people in the shop, and Paul turned the volume to the max. His eyes widened: the commercial! He had nearly forgotten it was coming on tonight.

He had already turned into a cow, and the split screen picturing him next to a hamburger, quickly following up with the scene of him turning into a chicken next to a roast chicken. Finally arriving at his scene of him returning to human shape and shouting with the announcer, “Don't eat your hero! Go Vegetarian!”

Beast Boy smiled, he would have to thank Paul for making sure the TV was on with the volume up in time for the commercials, not to mention letting him know it was on. That's when he looked over to Paul, who was looking between him and the TV slack jawed. He looked around the room, it seemed as if all eyes were on him, the room was completely silent outside of the pounding of his own heart.

A fear gripped Beast Boy, a fear much more profound than the fear he had when he had thought Cyborg had hated the tofu meatballs. He had no doubt they hated it as much as his friends had when they first saw it. He closed his eyes, trying to think of something else, trying to block out what was sure to be laughter. That was when he heard the first clap, breaking through yet another nightmarish set of self-degrading illusions. Soon he found everyone in the room was clapping, were some cheering emphatically. A few even walked over asking for his autograph. Beast Boy reveled in his enhanced celebrity status, signing signatures and talking to each and every person who came up to him, which quickly became the entire restaurant.

The rest of the Titans looked on with a combination of surprise, relief, and joy for their friend, but they couldn't reach him to tell him. He was far to busy talking to all his `fans', too busy to even notice the Titans eventually leaving without him…