Dude!

“Dude! That’s rad! Are you a mutant too?” Bobby isn’t sure why he’s excited, only that he is. He’s blue, this guy is green, it’s a great time all around. “Woah, woah, woah!” Bobby throws up his hand, shielding his eyes as the boy lifts his shirt. “Nudity is illegal!” It takes the ice mutant a few moment to bring his eyes back on the kid but he does eventually and his brows shoot up in awe. “Dude, I think you must have eaten something weird. Like a glowing mushroom. You eat any glowing mushrooms?” He pauses, “hey, we’re dealing with your potential glowing-mushroom poisoning, not my ice-ness. You could die!” He pauses again. “But no, I’m just icy some of the time. I am cool all of the time though.”

Beast Boy laughed and shook his head. “Nah. It’s a long story,” he said, grinning at the other boy and forgetting for a second that he was actually glowing. He dropped his shirt down now that he’d confirmed it really was something he’d eaten. “I wasn’t nude, gross,” he shot back, smirking a little. He tilted his head while he thought back. Had he eaten glowing mushrooms? He didn’t remember eating glowing mushrooms...But there was that one thing. “Ughh,” he groaned, slipping his bookbag off his shoulder and puling out a small cardboard container. “I got this at work. Sorta. There’s this staff fridge, and I was hungry --” He lifted the container up, showing a biohazard sign stamped on the bottom. “Okay, that’s just poor planning. Am I still a vegetarian if I’ve eaten --” He squinted at the label. “Bio-luminescent algae? I thought it was like, really weird tofu!” He grinned sheepishly at the icy boy. “You know what would be really cool? You never telling anyone else about this.” 

“Why do you need to say something funny at all?” Nadia asked. She was used to Scott’s endless jokes, but she wasn’t entirely accepting of everyone else’s, especially boys she didn’t even know.”

Beast Boy stopped, blinking at her for a minute. “I mean -- that’s, ya know, my thing,” he said, grinning at her. “I bring the jokes, and the awesome animal impressions.” He shrunk as he transformed into a rabbit and then back into a boy in about thirty seconds. “Makes waiting in line for a hot dog more fun right?” Or a veggie dog, in his case.

The balloon popped, making Raven’s head whip to the side as a child was pulled away to get a fresh ball of helium and plastic. Pulling in a deep breath, Raven pulled the bit of her soul self back into her before it was able to wreak more havoc around the zoo that allowed an actual person to be kept in a cage. She looked at Beast Boy, gritting her teeth. A part of how she tried to handle having friends, before, was by keeping her kind comments and her biting remarks at an equilibrium - if she hurt them too much, she’d push them away and she’d give in to the darkness in her. If she let them in too much, she’d teach them that she needed them and cared for them - and worse, would teach herself that she loved anyone. 

“That’s not a real job.” She retorted, carefully stepping around the point of that isn’t fair to you. Because it wasn’t, and she’d feel that way if it was anyone else - it was only the fact that it was Beast Boy that had her blood boiling. “You need a real job with normal hours and a real boss and -” She cut herself off, hearing how harsh she sounded. “And decent work conditions.” She said in a slightly softer tone.

She would get it, right? Sure, Raven had always seemed distant from the team, but even she had to feel how weird things got after they stopped being a team. She had gone all the way back to Aza-whatever. Why would she do that, unless she -- The thought burst with the balloon, and when she spoke again, Beast Boy felt himself shrink. Maybe even literally.

“I know,” he muttered, kicking his feet against the bars. Real jobs had like, offices and paychecks and stuff. He got paid in left over concession food and whatever tips got tossed in the box attached outside. “It’s not like there’s a lot of places that are hiring green dudes though!” he added indignantly. Jeez, he wanted to go back to being almost eaten, that would’ve been way preferable. Easier on his dignity anyway. “I’m fine, Rae,” he murmured, stepping back from the bars, from her. “I should ya know, probably get back to it, I don’t --” Want you to keep looking at me like that. “But when I’m off, maybe we can.... get a pizza? For old time’s sake?”

          Ah. Girl troubles. This was so not his territory. He let a light chuckle bounce off his chest, wandering over to the once abandoned can of Coke to resume the on-pause drink. “Didn’t know she was in town.. well, let alone either of you.” He really was the worst at keeping up with everybody, for someone who could be everywhere at once. “I’m sure you were fine, Gar. She knows how you’re feeling better than you do… Literally.” 

Beast Boy grimaced under the pillow. “I know, I’m -- sorry dude,” he added. Things had been so weird after the Titans went their separate ways. It felt like he lost more than the team. It was like losing everyone. And maybe that was all in his head, but the more time passed, the more awkward things became, and Beast Boy was a pro at awkward apparently. “I kept meaning to ya know, call and hang out and stuff,” he added, poking an eye from behind the pillow. “But dude, I was so not fine. I can’t even begin to explain how not-fine it was.” He sighed dramatically and slumped even further into the couch if that was possible. “If she knows I feel stupid, then yeah.”

A tiny flare of happiness burst in Raven’s center, and she quashed it just as immediately. Earth was good, and it was nice to see a familiar face, but that didn’t mean she was going to let loose and try to be… Someone else. Besides - she’d left, so what right to caring about her teammates did she have? Beast Boy had grown up - he was still all gangly limbs, but if she had to guess, he was taller than her now - not that she could tell - and didn’t have the same irritating squeak to his voice. Even if the irritating excitement was still very present.

She touched his hand at her shoulder, already more human - if you could call them humans - contact than she usually got. “It’s me.” She said, keeping her voice a flat tone until she registered what he meant. “You’re - you’re being kept in a cage?” She asked. “What to - what, to entertain people?” She asked, her voice going up an octave and focusing to keep the child’s balloon that passed by from bursting, trying not to let her emotions release. “Gar, is this - is this what you’ve been doing all these years?”

She didn’t go all red-eyed and furious when he put his hand on her shoulder -- that was a good sign, right? Her voice was exactly the same as ever, and he hadn’t realized just how much he missed it until he heard it again. He missed all the Titans, but Raven....

But suddenly, everything was going wrong again. Beast Boy held up his hands and shook his head wildly. “No, it’s not like -- I mean, I knew what I was getting into,” he said quickly. “It’s a job, sorta. A jobish...thing.” He rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly at her for a moment. It slipped off his face, and his gaze fell to the floor of the cage. “Not the whole time,” he said quietly. “I uh, tried to do the hero stuff on my own. Didn’t go so well.” 

Okay, so he’d totally blown his first re-impression with Raven. That much was painfully obvious (he still cringed when he thought about it). But he could definitely make up for it. Step one -- buy her the greatest present ever! He searched around online until he found a shop that sounded promising. Spells of the Supernatural. 

The place was super creepy, which in this case, was a plus. Still, Beast Boy was a little hesitant when he stepped inside. “Uh... hello?” he called out. “There’s no like, ghosts in here or anything right? I am not about to mess around with demons okay, totally not my style.”

After a long shift at the zoo, there was only one place to go. The greatest, most awesome, best arcade in the known world. They had every game he could even think of, and some he’d only dreamed about. Plus, pizza. They had pizza. He had an early shift tomorrow, so he couldn’t stay to play, but he could at least get his hands on some of that gooey deliciousness.

He walked out proudly, a half-eaten slice hanging from his mouth, when he saw  her. “No way,” he called out, jaw falling open and the pizza slice tumbling to the ground. “You’re green too!” Normally he’d be more upset about the pizza, but this was huge. Beast Boy zipped over to her. “Whoa! This is totally awesome -- can you shapeshift too?” he asked, transforming into a dog with a happily-wagging tail and then back again. 

“The usual way. I put a curse on her an’ made a voodoo doll outta my daddy’s bones,” Skylar said, face neutral as she said it. After a moment she rolled her eyes. “Christ almighty, relax a bit won’t cha. The internet, where else do ya think?”

“I’m florescent and that’s weird.”

“Dude, you’re also green and I think that’s a little more pressing.”  Bobby laughs, wondering for a second if he should be a little more concerned about the green glowing kid in front of him. Well, as far as Bobby knew, maybe that was just his mutation. He did know a lot of weird looking people. “But hey! I’m covered in ice so what do I know! Is the fluorescence something you ate or…?”

“Dude! I’m always green!” Beast Boy replied. He held out his arms. “This is not my usual jungle green awesomness! This is practically glow in the dark!” he insisted, grimacing at his hands. He tilted his head at the question and lifted up his shirt. Sure enough, the glowing was brightest right in his stomach. “Oh boy,” he muttered. “Uh... that can’t be good, right?” He blinked up at the other boy. “So are you like, always an icicle, by the way?” 

“I meant the cage is sad” Nora said gesturing to the bars of the cage, people with powers being locked up was nothing new to her though, even if the circumstances were vastly different. “The green seal and the shapeshifting is funny.”

“Oh,” Beast Boy said. He slid his hands up and down the bars of the cage. “Well -- yeah, but that’s only for like, a few more hours,” he assured her. “I mean the actual animals here, they have to stay in the cages all the time, but I get to go home after my shift.” He paused for a second. “Wait -- so you actually think I’m funny?” he asked. “If you like the seal, you’ll love the other stuff I can do!” He zipped to the back of the cage, and in a second, transformed into a ferret. He did a flip, and caught himself on his front paw. Then he shifted into a monkey and did cartwheels around the cage, climbing back up the bars before transforming back into human. “What’d you think of that?”

        It wasn’t often that Wally was the one to go to for advice. Color him surprised when his little changeling buddy showed up almost out of nowhere to freak out at him. He shouldn’t be surprised, usually he was the one who popped up out of nearly thin air, and he was one of the senior Titans now… God, that was weird to think about. “Let me guess, you accidentally ate a slice of pepperoni pizza,” He jabbed, a brow raising with his teasing smirk. “Or was it chicken tortellini?”

“No, dude, it’s like -- way worse than that!” Beast Boy cried out. He flopped down on Wally’s couch, and picked up a pillow to bury his face in. “I saw Raven again, only she saw me at my job. Well my job-ish...thing,” he sighed. “And she caught me right in the middle of almost being eaten. I must’ve looked like a total loser!”

On her way back from work, Raven had taken to the scenic route in the city, rather than venture onto the subway. Sure, she could make a portal, but it was a lot of unnecessary uses of her powers, and she liked glancing at new things. Normally she walked through the park, but with some sort of family event, she took a detour and skirted the edge of the zoo - a little louder than she normally liked, but still better than trying to ignore everyone on a crowded tram. She was about to cross the street away from the zoo when she heard a familiar voice shouting out and turned around.

Coming closer, she took in the sight before her - a tiny green mouse, scurrying around the edges of a cage as a bird in the next cage over tried to snap at it. She only knew of one animal capable of speaking - and they weren’t an animal. “Beast Boy?” She asked, approaching and grabbing at the bar of the cage.

He probably should’ve stayed in human form. But the thing was, sometimes when he transformed, he sorta... started thinking like the animal he was. Like, if he was a cheetah, he wanted to run. And when he was a mouse, he wanted to run and hide.

Finally, he managed to worm his way under a box in the corner, far enough away from the bird’s talons. Just go away! he thought ruefully. He wasn’t going to make any tips hiding under a box for the rest of his shift! And the mouse part of him was too scared to transform into anything else -- until he heard that voice. 

“Raven?” Beast Boy transformed instantly, and pulled the box off his head with a little effort. The bird cocked its head and flew off, but Beast Boy’s eyes were glued to her. “Raven!” he repeated, crawling to the bars and hanging on them. “Hey, wow! It’s really you!” He reached a hand through the bars, hesitating a second before putting a hand on her shoulder. “Uh... I’d hug you, but they don’t let me out of here until my shift is over, ya know?”

Beast Boy burst into laughter. “You told Starfire that?” he repeated. “No way, dude! That’s hysterical,” he giggled. He was on a lunch break and scarfing down pizza with an old friend -- what more could he ask for? (Beside his old team back, but...) “It’s really nice to see you again, Kara,” he said, beaming at her. “I had no idea you were in this city!”

Beast Boy was in seal form, balancing a ball quite expertly on his nose thank you very much. But at the girl’s words, he dropped the ball, felt it bounce against his head, and then shifted into his human form. “Hey, not cool dude!” he called out to her, coming up to the bars of his cage. (He got to leave at night and everything, but man, it was still a cage.) “A green seal isn’t sad, it’s awesome. Funny though -- you mean that?” he asked with a grin.

“Oooh…. kay…” Beast Boy said slowly. “I can see why you get along with Raven then.” Mutually assured creepiness. He suppressed a shiver and slipped a little further into the apartment, suddenly afraid to touch anything. What if it was like, a demon couch? “So uh, how did you meet Raven?”

Beast Boy has arrived, dudes and dudettes! 

He’s a super cool guy with the super cool power to shapeshift into any animal! His interests include: video games, mopeds, animals (duh), and vegetarian pizza.