Teen Titans Fan Fiction ❯ Normal Like You ❯ An Interlude from Life ( Chapter 16 )

This chapter will be bit of a break until I can figure out what I'm gonna do next.

“English.” “Tamaranian.”

Normal Like You

Chapter 17: An Interlude from Life or Don't Be Sad, It's Carnival!

“Well this is painful,” Raven muttered.

“You think that anything that involves people is painful,” Gar answered, “Ever hear of being social?”

Vic leaned against the wall as he bit into his hot dog. “Dude, Raven couldn't be social if she tried.”

“He might have a point,” she answered, “Making small talk is hardly my forte.”

Gar grinned knowingly but said nothing.

“Where's Kori and Dick?” Vic asked.

“I saw them heading off to the Ferris wheel,” Raven said, “I assumed they wanted to be alone…”

And she was right.

Dick and Kori climbed into the seats, ignoring the look of endearment the ticket vendor was giving Kori. The ride took off slowly, and they leaned over the edge, cotton candy between them and the promise of fireworks in the darkening sky.

“It's beautiful,” Kori murmured happily, leaning into Dick. He nodded absently. She was the most beautiful thing there, he thought.

“I am very happy we met,” she continued, and he smiled.

“Me too.” He took a clump of the pink fluff and placed it on his tongue, swallowing it happily. “Try some,” he said, waving the cotton candy a bit.

“The last time I ate cotton it was not very good, and I was sick for a long while,” she said uncertainly. Dick would not give her anything unsafe or poisonous.

“This stuff is different,” he said, “It's supposed to be eaten.”

She picked off a bit and placed it in her mouth, eep-ing. “It disappeared!” she cried in surprise.

“It does that.” He took his sunglasses off as the final rays of sunlight disappeared. “Have you seriously never had cotton candy before?”

“No,” she popped a bit more in her mouth, “I come from far away. Most of the things here are unfamiliar. Do you often have this cotton candy?”

“It's normally a carnival thing. I used to have it a lot before… before I moved in with my foster father.”

“Did something happen to your parents?”

He blinked quickly and fingered a ball of pink fluff before sticking it in his mouth. “Uh, yeah…”

An array of colors exploded in the sky, and Kori gasped.

“You like?” he asked, grateful for the subject change.

“They are most beautiful! What do they mean?”

He turned to her, a few more explosions lighting up their faces. “Mean?”

“In my home, such explosions would signal an attack. Should we not be worried?”

“Uh, no. They're for show. It's just a bunch of chemicals and fire. Is there a lot of fighting where you're from?”

She stuffed a blob of cotton candy in her mouth and said nothing.

“Never mind then.”

A few more fireworks went off, and Kori jumped at each explosion.

“And you are sure they are `just for fun?'” she said, scooting closer.

“Positive. If there were any danger, I'd make sure you were safe.”

She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, giving a happy sigh.

What they didn't realize was a very dangerous (some might even consider evil) figure was in the crowd beneath them, and she went by the name of Amanda.

><<><><><><

Beast Boy handed Raven a stuffed chicken.

“What's this?” she droned unhappily.

“What do you think?” he asked slyly.

She eyed him suspiciously. “It's a giant co-” She stopped immediately, blushing slightly as she threw the fowl back at him. He chuckled immaturely.

“HA! RAVEN HAS A GIANT-”

“If you finish that sentence, Gar,” she warned, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, “I swear to God you might find yourself lacking in one.”

He just smiled and set the offending fowl on the ground. They weren't gonna carry it around; Raven might just kill him for that.

“What to do, what to do?” he hummed and gazed around.

“I would enjoy getting out of here,” she murmured under her breath but followed as Gar ran to the next stall where Vic was playing a round of games and winning.

Vic threw the rings at the bottles, giving a wild “boo-ya” as each one found its place.

“Good eye,” Raven murmured as he grabbed his prize, “Mind taking wild boy over there off my hands. He's getting too annoying to bear.”

“You know you love me, Rae,” Gar grinned as he placed an arm around her shoulders. She picked it off. “`Wild boy,' eh,” he said, undaunted, “Just call me Beast Boy, party animal extraordinaire.”

“I'm up for a party,” a voice said behind them, and they turned around. What could be called a perfect replica of Kori, only with black hair and violet eyes stood before them. She looked familiar, and they recognized her from the small run in before Dick's party.

“Hi,” she gave them a wave, “I'm looking for my sister.”

“She ran off,” Gar jabbed a finger behind him, “Towards the Ferris wheel.”

“I guess she's with that boy from the party,” the girl, Amanda, had it been, sighed. “I'll just have to…” She stopped and looked around, giving another sigh. Quickly she walked off, and the three exchanged glances.

“Does her sister seem a bit… off to you?” Vic asked.

“Comparing her to Kori, I'd have to say she would be the normal one,” Raven answered, “Though from what Kori's told me, she's a bit of a schemer. Maybe we should warn Kori…”

A moment later the she reappeared, toting a small auburn haired boy. “If you see Kori, tell her I'm looking for her.”

They vanished.

“Wanna go ruin Kori and Dick's fun?” Vic asked,

“Let's leave `em be,” Gar said, “How `bout I win you another prize, Raven.”

She groaned but followed as he bounced off to the next stand.

><><><><><><

Dick helped Kori off the ride, and she smiled at him as he dropped into a playful bow.

“Where to next m'lady?” he grinned.

Kori giggled and they locked shoulders, heading off in no general direction. She was having a very good time. Dick had been a perfect gentlemen, and it was wonderful having a boyfriend to talk to, especially one that did not mind your naiveté or take advantage of it.

It was a wonderful evening.

Kori's good mood faltered as a prominent figure stood out.

Amanda.

Quickly, she attempted to pull Dick away, but Amanda was too quick and ran up to her, dragging behind her a silent Ryan.

“There you are,” Amanda gave a relieved sigh, “I've been traipsing around everywhere. Here,” she pushed Ryan out to her, “Take the kid. I've got a date.”

Kori was about to point that she wasn't the only one, but Amanda had already disappeared.

“Um…” Dick said, a bit unsure.

The boy looked up at Kori and said something in a strange language. She answered with an equally strange response and turned to Dick apologetically.

“I apologize,” she said, “My sister has `dumped' the responsibility of watching my brother on me.”

“Is, uh, this your brother?” He was a bit thrown off by the change.

“His name is Ryan,” Kori lifted up her brother's hand and smiled down at him, “He is the youngest in my family.”

“…Hi,” he said uncertainly.

Ryan looked up at Kori. “What does he say?”

“He is saying hello,” she answered. She turned to Dick. “He does not speak much English.”

“Oh…”

“Do not worry,” she smiled brightly, trying to figure out how to put the evening back together, “I am sure he can be occupied while we amuse ourselves.”

Dick blushed at the last part but nodded. “Sure. There's gotta be something he can do.”

“Who is your friend?” Ryan asked, taking his sister's hand. “Is he the one Amanda mentioned?”

“Most likely,” Kori answered, “But I would not believe what she says. What would you like to do?”

Dick had the odd suspicion they were talking about him. “So, uh, where are we headed?”

“Ryan wishes a chance at the game where you attempt to knock down the bottles with a ball. I think I would enjoy that also.”

Dick grinned. He was a master at that game. “Sure. Let's go.”

><><><><><><

It only took thirty minutes for Dick's competitive nature to get blown out of proportion. Both he and Ryan had landed each shot perfectly and, as show-off nature dictated, Dick had started trying harder, attempting to beat the kid. Kori stood between them, cheering for each shot. A crowd had gathered as the child and the teen battled.

Raven, Gar, and Vic were among the crowd, each peering over the counter curiously as balls were flung back and forth.

“Who's the kid?” Vic asked Kori.

“We saw your sister carting him around,” Raven added.

“He's my brother,” she answered proudly, ruffling the child's head as he landed another perfect shot.

Dick looked a bit jealous at the attention Ryan was getting from his sister and threw the ball a bit too hard; it hit the bottles a bit too the left and bounced off the backboard with a wild bang. Raven, Gar, and Vic grinned knowingly at him, and he frowned, grumbling something under his breath.

“Looks like we have us a winner!” Gar shouted, holding up Ryan's arm.

“What happened, Kori?” Ryan asked uncertainly. She scooped him up in a hug.

“You have won, brother!” she cried happily. Quickly she turned to Dick and wrapped him in another hug. “That was most enjoyable!” She kissed him fully on the lips, and he blushed. Ryan made a gagging noise, as did the rest of them. Dick gave his prize (another giant stuffed animal) to Kori; Ryan kept his.

A figure emerged from the crowd that was dispersing: Amanda wearing a pink wig.

“So, little sister,” she smiled, “I see you had fun.”

Kori grinned. Ryan held up his prize. She patted him on the head.

“I've got another thing planned,” she twirled the pink strands of the wig, “Ryan's expected home in, oh…” She checked the watch, “…fifteen minutes. Mind taking care of it?”

“I-”

“Thanks, sis. See ya!”

“Well she's…” Dick started.

“…Forceful…” Raven finished.

“I should just take Ryan home,” Kori hung her head. Ryan jerked her arm, holding up his prize as a peace offering.

“Come on,” Vic said, “We've had all the fun we're gonna have here. We could drive around after dropping off your brother.”

She looked up and grinned. “That would be most wonderful! But…” She glanced down at her brother, “I would hate to leave Ryan out of it. Would you like to ride around with us?”

Ryan nodded enthusiastically.

“Can't,” Gar said sadly, “Parents are calling in around nine, and it's like 8:30.”

“I'm gonna head home too,” Raven sighed, actually disappointed that the day was ending.

Gar glanced at her but said nothing.

“Alright then,” Vic waved goodbye and they headed off.

“You're going home?” Gar asked nonchalantly.

Raven nodded, her head bowed.

“Hey, Rae?”

She turned to face him, and he caught her in a kiss. He pulled back quickly, and she blushed.

“Don't go home,” he finished.

She glanced at him quickly and forced her hood up to hide the blush on her cheeks.

“Yeah, okay.”

Author(ess) Notes:

A good sized chapter. I took a bit of Sisters and stuck it in there. I added a bit of their pasts just `cause I felt like it. Ryand'r is Kori's little bro, so I added him in, `cause he was cute. He's older in the comics, but I don't care too much. A bit less of Komand'r than I would've liked, but I couldn't do much with her. Dick's “competitive spirit” alludes to Winner Takes All. I didn't want to actually call it Tamaranian because… Well who knows. I just didn't like it. Frostflower gave me the best ideas, and I will definitely pocket those for later. I'm considering adding a Tara/Gar/Raven love triangle, but who knows what crazy things my mind will make up. I sure as hell don't.

Next Chapter: Secrets aren't secrets forever, and someone has a sleepover.