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It was the day the five teen heroes were waiting for, their day off. Every once in a while the city would grant them a day relieved from their hero duties to spend time as they pleased. It wasn’t often they had one of those days, maybe every few months or so or when crime seems too slow, but they sure took advantage of it.
Days off often made Robin quite anxious. It was hard for him to turn his brain off of hero mode, even if it was just for the day. After an unsatisfying sleep due to his mind running for most of the night, he decided to do some organizing to keep himself preoccupied. It had taken him quite some time, well into the early evening, but still less time than he had originally planned. Not knowing what else to do and still feeling a bit restless, he decided to go see who was in the common room, if anyone.
As he walked in, he was happily greeted by Cyborg who unsurprisingly was still working in the kitchen. He had made noodles earlier for lunch which were absolutely amazing so he wondered what he was making next.
“Hey Rob! How’s it going?”
“It’s going good.” Robin answered as he walked to the kitchen island and sat on one of the bar stools. “Just finished cleaning so I figured I’d come and see who was in here.”
“Just me right now. Haven't seen anyone since lunch.” Cyborg commented, pulling out a bowl from one of the cabinets.
“Do you know what anyone else is doing?” Robin asked and looked around the room in search of his friends.
“BB asked if I wanted to go somewhere with him but Star ended up joining him instead. Haven't seen Rae though.” Cyborg sighed. “She could have come in when I went to the bathroom but I haven't seen her since yesterday afternoon. “Have you seen her?”
“I saw her last night,” Robin thought back to one of their witching hour meetings as Beast Boy liked to call them. “But I haven't seen her since. If she doesn't come out in a bit I’ll go and check on her.”
Cyborg nodded in agreement. He knew Raven wasn't the most social butterfly and was known to not make an appearance for sometimes a few days but it still didn’t mean he wasn’t concerned. “Hopefully dinner will lure her out, I’m making waffles.”
“If those don’t get her out here I don’t know what will.” Robin chuckled. “Do you need any help?”
“If you could get me an egg and the milk that would be great.” Cyborg listed as he poured in the mix and the water.
Robin nodded as he made his way over to the fridge. “You're in luck,” he said as he opened the egg carton, “there are exactly two eggs left.”
“Cutting it real close there huh?” Cyborg whistled. “The pasta took most of the eggs and flour this afternoon so we’ll have to go to the store soon.”
“We could send Beast Boy and Starfire to get some things.” Robin suggested and handed the milk and egg over to Cyborg who gave a hearty chuckle.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to laugh in your face.” He shook his head and eased his chuckle. “Do you not remember what they came home with the last time they went to the store together?”
“You’re not even going to give them the benefit of a doubt here?” Robin grinned, remembering very well the biscuit s’more incident.
“Not yet.” Cyborg kept shaking his head while cracking the eggs. “I had to get rid of that pan, and it was the good one too. I would trust Rae at the store if she was willing to go but not these two just yet.”
“Hey, she goes sometimes.”
“Yeah, when one of us goes. Girl needs to start going on her own.”
“You sound like her mother.” Robin smiled.
“I damn well better. Girl needs a bit of guidance. Just surprised that she does listen, you know?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Robin nodded and sat back on the stool. “Sometimes when no one decides to listen or pay attention to our training drills or debriefings,” he paused to look at Cyborg who looked very interested in measuring out the exact amount of milk and not at all guilty, “I’ll look over to see her still listening. It’s the quiet support you know.”
“Yeah,” Cyborg nodded, pausing his cooking to engage more in the conversation, “when I’m down in the garage and things aren’t going the way I want them to, I’ll find her sitting there just watching. Sometimes she’ll ask questions and it always seems to make me feel better you know? Gets me back into the flow.”
“Yeah, she has a way with that.”
“Just glad she doesn’t hit me like she does to BB. Sometimes I get, dare I say,” he paused and looked to the door in case Raven decided to walk in as he lowered his voice, “a hug.”
“And here I thought I was the only one getting Raven hugs.” Robin held a hand to his chest in mock betrayal. “I thought that was our thing.”
“Y’all have many things. You can share a few hugs.” Cyborg teased.
“If I must.” Robin sighed dramatically.
Cyborg gave a short chuckle and opened his mouth to keep the banter going before he heard the swoosh of the doors opening. “Oh, there she is!” Cyborg smiled as Raven came stumbling in, a light purple blanket wrapped around her, her messy bun became even messier as purple strands came loose with her stumbling steps.
She gave a mumbled greeting in response as she pulled out a book from her blanket, dropping it on the coffee table with a solid thud, and plopped herself down on the right side of the couch. She pulled her blanket over her head as she flopped on the couch.
“Well, good evening to you too.” Cyborg chuckled as he watched the whole production. “Nice of you to grace us with your presence.”
Raven gave another mumble acknowledging that she heard him and closed her eyes.
Cyborg turned back to Robin who just shrugged. Cyborg raised his eyebrow, knowing Robin knew more than he was letting on.
“She had a bit of a rough night last night.” Robin decided on, not wanting to put words in her mouth but knowing Cyborg was going to try to get an answer out of him.
Neither one seemed to be having an easy time falling asleep despite knowing they had the next day off. So when Robin came to the main room to get a snack last night, he was only slightly surprised to see Raven reading on the couch. They didn't talk too much besides a general hello, but they sat together for a good few hours until Robin turned in again for the night. He knew that there was something bothering her and keeping her from sleeping, but if she didn't want to talk about it, then he would wait until she was ready. He had assumed that she had gone to sleep sometime during the day since no one had seen her but apparently not judging by the way she came in.
Cyborg nodded, satisfied with that answer and went back to mixing. He wanted to press more, but now wasn’t the time. She at least made an appearance so it’s not to the point where he should be too worried. Right? “Can you get the strawberries out of the fridge?” He asked Robin, raising his voice so a certain someone on the couch would hear. “They’re going to be strawberry tonight.”
They both watched as that certain someone sleepily raised her head at the mention of strawberries, curiously taking a look to see what was being made. Her eyes widened ever so slightly in anticipation upon seeing the waffle iron.
“Sure thing.” Robin said, shaking his head in amusement. Leave it to some food to get her attention. “We should have just enough for the three of us.”
“Sweet! Can you rinse them off while you’re over there?” Cyborg asked. “I’ll cut them and all. You can go chill for a bit.”
“Yep.” Robin nodded, shifting slightly to the sink and rinsed the berries in their container giving it a few shakes to get most of the water off. “You sure you don’t need any help? I can do the rest if you want. You’ve been cooking all day.”
“Nah,” Cyborg waved off. “It’s fine. You can’t make them as well as I can.” He smirked.
“You wound me.” Robin feigned insult with another dramatically placed hand on his chest. “Raven won’t treat me like this.”
They both heard a light scoff from the couch and a mumbled “So dramatic these two.”
Cyborg burst out laughing, having to put the knife down from cutting the strawberries so as to not dent his metal fingers while Robin kept up his dramatics as he walked towards the couch.
“Me? Dramatic? Never.” He plopped himself down in between the armrest and her head. “You’re the one that’s quite dramatic.”
“Y’all woke me up with your bitching, I didn't do anything.” Raven grumbled and scooted back a bit, giving him some more room.
“Y’all?” Robin chuckled.
“Aww,” Cyborg put a hand to his heart with an amused soft expression, “I’ve been rubbing off on you little lady.”
“Ugh,” Raven threw the quilt over her head, “just let me wallow in my own angst.”
“You can wallow with company.” Robin placed his hand on what he assumed was her head and patted gently. “You've been chilling all day, now it’s time to join humanity and have a change of scenery.”
“Noffi diganteto.”
“Hmm? It’s hard to hear you through the blanket.”
Raven sighed and pulled her blanket down, Robin retracting his hand. “I wanted to relax, but I didn't get to.”
“No? You've been looking forward to it for a while.”
“I know.” Raven shook her head, bringing her hands up to rub her face. “I just wasn't able to sleep. I’ve been doing the annoying dosing in and out all day and now I’m just over it.”
“So you've been awake since,” Robin paused to think but was interrupted.
“It’s been three days.” Raven interjected, looking up to meet his masked eyes. “Well, today is the third day.”
“You haven't slept in three days?” Robin asked worriedly in a hushed tone so he didn't get Cyborg’s attention. But without his knowledge, Cyborg heard. It wasn't just his sonic hearing that came in handy at times, but it picked up on more than what others thought. So for his sleepy friend, he added some more strawberries into her waffle mix. Hell, he busted into his mini chocolate chip stash for her to add in as well. She deserved it.
“No.” She shook her head lightly, looking away.
“Why didn't you tell me last night that you couldn't sleep?”
“I thought I’d be able to sleep because of our training sessions yesterday. Apparently not.”
“Well, is there anything I can do to help?” He looked down as Raven brought a hand to her mouth, a big yawn coming out of her.
“Besides leaving? No.”
“Ouch. Well just for that I’m staying.”
Raven drew out a long sigh and just laid there for a few moments. She wasn't too thrilled that he wouldn't leave. She could tell him to move or move him herself with a flick of her wrist, but she wasn’t not happy that he wanted to be with her, trying to help her. “You're not going to leave, are you?”
“Nope.” Robin shook his head and laid his hand on her quilted back. “Not until dinner’s ready or you zonk out. Whichever comes first.”
“Mmmph.” She grumbled, too tired to argue and accepted her fate. She tucked the quilt back around her as she snuggled into the couch. Maybe if she closed her eyes for just a little bit.
“You do realize that dinner will be ready soon though right? Cyborg might not be too happy if you sleep through the meal he made for you.”
Raven cracked her eyes, slightly startled, forgetting that Robin was there for a moment. “I’m not going to fall asleep.”
“Really?” Robin said sarcastically. “You look awfully comfortable for someone who’s going to stay awake.”
“Girl, I know you're not choosing now to fall asleep!” Cyborg hollered from the kitchen. “I’ve been slaving over a hot stove all day. Least you could do is eat some of it.”
That gave the two a light chuckle. Leave it to Cyborg to find a way to get dramatic about food.
“I’m just resting my eyes.” She murmured into the couch. “If I couldn't sleep earlier then I’m not holding my breath that I’ll sleep now.”
“That's fair.” Robin shrugged. “Will it bother you if I turn on the tv?”
“No, go ahead.”
Robin leaned forward to the coffee table to grab the remote that was just millimeters away from being crushed by Raven’s tomb of a book. He silently thanked whoever was listening that the remote did not meet its demise because that was the backup of the backup remote and they didn't have any more after that one. “Do you have a preference of what you would like to watch? Or listen to if you're just resting your eyes like you claim?”
“I don’t care.” She shook her head.
Robin didn't even have the tv on for more than a second before Raven interjected.
“Besides that.”
“Ok.”
“Or that.” She said when he changed it to something else.
“Shouldn't you be asleep by now?” He said with a sigh and lightly bopped her bun.
“I’m not sleeping, I’m-”
“Resting your eyes, I know.” Robin finished for her with a playful eye roll. He knew she would most likely be zonked out in a matter of minutes. No matter how much she huffed and puffed, he knew she was content with him being there. If she wasn't then he most likely would have been thrown across the room. “Is this to your hearing pleasure?” He asked, stopping on a movie that he would watch from time to time.
Raven opened her eyes ever so slightly to see what he chose and nodded in acceptance, closing her eyes as she adjusted her quilt to cover her ears, just a bit of her nose and eyes poking out.
It took Cyborg a bit longer than he expected to finish dinner. He added too many strawberries in Raven’s batter which caused the waffles to cook weirdly with the added chocolate chips. It took a bit of finagling but he figured it out.
All finished with making dinner, he decided to bring dinner over and eat while they watched tv. It was their night off after all.
“Alright you two,” he announced as he walked over. “Dinner is- is she asleep?”
Bringing his attention away from the tv, Robin looked down at his friend who claimed she was just “resting her eyes.” She was indeed asleep, not to his surprise. His hand rose up and down steadily on her back as her breath evened out while her hands had shifted slightly, heavy from sleep.
“Yeah.” Robin looked up with a smile.
Cyborg sighed and shook his head in amusement. “This girl, I swear. Do you want to eat here or at the table so we don’t disturb her?”
“We can eat at the table if you’re fine with that.”
“Works for me.” Cyborg shrugged indifferently. “I’m glad she’s able to rest. I’ll save her a plate for later.”
“That sounds good.” Robin nodded. “I’ll be over in a minute.”
Cyborg nodded and made his way over to the kitchen table to set out their dinner.
Taking a few more moments with the snoozing empath, he gave her back a slight pat as he carefully stood up, trying not to jostle the couch too much. He took a second to stretch and turned off the tv before he turned back to his friend. “Good night Rae,” he whispered. “I hope you have a nice sleep.”
Maybe it was because she was going on three days without sleep, or maybe the couch had magical sleepy powers, but something about being with her friends and knowing that they were there for her was enough to help her to sleep soundly. And sleep soundly she did.