AN: I do not own Teen Titans. This was a commission submitted by simplycarline on tumblr. The idea for the story belongs to her.

Chapter 1

Sunshine very rarely felt perfect. It was often too bright or too hot or too hidden away. But this was one of those oh so rare days when it just felt just right. So it was decided very quickly and nearly unanimously that the day should be spent outside in its entirety. They packed their bags with games and toys and food and piled into the T-car for a well-deserved day at the park. And well-deserved it certainly was after all the team had been through the last few weeks. Criminals one after another trying to steal and destruct and corrupt and just about destroy anything pleasant seemed to take up their time all day every day. Whenever they'd accomplished one mission another two would arise. All five members were on edge from the constant rush of adrenaline and grumpy from the lack of rest. But finally they'd wrapped up all loose ends and it seemed everyone, including the villains, were ready for a break.

"Is all of this stuff necessary?" asked Raven, looking at the luggage that had been packed into the vehicle and now had to be removed. She wore a large sunhat for, unlike everyone else, a bright sunny day wasn't exactly her favorite time to be outside. "It's a day at the park not a trip to Australia."

"We can't all be easy like you and just need a book," Beast Boy smirked and lifted a cooler on one shoulder and a bag full of volleyball gear on the other. "Love the hat, by the way."

She frowned and turned away from him. "Sunshine isn't exactly my friend. And I wouldn't make fun of my fashion choice when you're wearing those hideous sunglasses."

"Hey these are designer shades," he replied. "All the celebrities are wearing them. And I wasn't making fun of your hat, FYI. I really do like it."

"Yeah, I'm sure," she rolled her eyes and grabbed a box full of food.

"This may be the last nice day we have for a while, guys," said Nightwing, pulling out three large folded up blankets that had been wedged in the trunk. "We've got to make the most of it."

"In other words, we're not going home 'till sunset," Cyborg smiled and pulled a grill out of the car, much to everyone's confusion as to how he'd fit it in there.

"Friends, may I choose our spot of picnicking today?" Starfire clapped excitedly.

"Go for it," Nightwing smiled. She squealed and flew off to look around.

"Just not too far away!" Beast Boy called after her.

"Why? Afraid you won't be able to carry everything?" Cyborg snickered.

"Hah! I could carry all of this around the park twice without getting tired," the changeling boasted and readjusted the cooler on his shoulder. His notoriously stringy muscles were a thing of the past, now that his body was filling out and maturing with age.

"Good, then you can carry this," said Raven, using her powers to put the box she had been holding on top of him, balanced on the cooler and volleyball gear just above his head.

He made a slight grunting sound as the added weight hit him but, after taking a moment to make sure everything was balanced, he straightened up and smirked. "See? No problem. You wanna climb on top, too?"

"Why would I?" she asked. "So that you can make some obscene joke about me liking to be 'on top'?"

She swore that for a moment she saw him blush but it was gone in nearly the same instance and a large smirk graced his lips. "Ooh, I hadn't thought of that but good idea! Come on, climb up there so I can use that gem."

She growled and walked away from him, cursing herself. He was obviously starting to rub off on her if she was able to think something like that up on her own. "Where the hell is Starfire?"

"Friends! Over here! I have found the perfect place for our picnic!" the alien exclaimed from the air as if on cue.

She led them over to a flat area of grass that was right on the edge of trees where they could find shade. They quickly set up camp and went about doing as they pleased. Cyborg got the grill going right away while flying a kite attached to his foot. Nightwing and Starfire were throwing a Frisbee back and forth, though of course it was in no way simple. Starfire shot it from the air and Nightwing dodged and jumped and did his best to catch it in as nontraditional a form as he could. Beast Boy was stretching his legs, running around the warm thick grass in as many forms as he could think of. He was glad he'd saved his money and had an outfit made of morphing material created that looked like casual clothes. Up until then he was the only team member, apart from Cyborg who was exempt for never wearing clothes in the first place, who couldn't wear normal outfits on his off days because of his powers. Raven sat on a blanket in the shade of her hat reading one of her books.

"Okay the grill's hot," Cyborg smiled. "Anyone hungry?"

"I shall have one of the hot-dogs," said Starfire.

"Same here," said Nightwing.

"I want a veggie burger," said Beast Boy.

"Sorry, I 'forgot' your burgers," Cyborg smirked. "Guess you'll just have to have bread."

"I knew you'd 'forget' so I put some in the cooler," said Beast Boy. "And I want two."

"Unfortunately I might have 'accidentally' taken them out before we left," said Cyborg. "So it's meat or bread, Grass Stain."

"Dude, that's so not cool!" Beast Boy frowned. "How many years are we gonna fight about this?"

"Relax, I packed some portabella mushrooms," said Raven, turning a page in her book. "I knew Cyborg would think they were for the salad and would ignore them."

"Portabella burgers? Sweet!" Beast Boy smiled. "I want mine with cheese, if you don't mind, Rust Bucket."

"Aw, why would you do that for him?" Cyborg pouted.

"They're not for him, they're for me," said Raven. "They're healthier than hamburgers and taste good. I figured something like this would happen so I packed enough for the two of us, just in case." She watched as Cyborg grumbled and grabbed two mushrooms to put on the grill.

"I owe you one," said Beast Boy, sitting down with her on the blanket. "So…you're not gonna do this the whole time, are you?"

"Do what?" she asked.

"Sit and read."

"Probably."

"Well that's no fun."

"It is for me."

"Yeah but you read every day. You should get up and move around for once. It's good for you."

"Listen, we're here to relax and gather our sanity. For the four of you it's playing in the park. For me it's reading. This is what's good for me."

He sighed and ran a hand through his thick hair, looking off in the distance. "So I'm guessing you wouldn't even consider going for a walk?"

"I may when my legs start to feel stiff or my behind goes numb."

"Really? Cuz I was gonna go for a walk later. You wanna come with?"

She eyed him for a moment. "Why?"

"I don't know, I just thought it'd be nice," he shrugged. "Better than walking alone."

"I like walking alone," she said plainly.

"Oh," his ears lowered. "Well I was just asking." He stood up and left the blanket, walking over to the volleyball gear and opening the bag.

"You want help?" asked Nightwing.

"No, I got it," the changeling said. "I need something to do."

Raven watched as her green teammate proceeded to try and figure out how to get the net up on his own. She couldn't help feeling that something strange had passed between them. He never asked her to do things with him, not alone anyway. And he seemed really crushed when she turned him down. Normally when she'd decline an offer from him he'd shrug. She just couldn't fathom why he'd want to do something like walking together. Was he planning a prank? Did he need to use her for some scheme? She just couldn't trust that it was to simply walk around the park together. She was only brought out of her thoughts when Cyborg finally announced that the food was ready.

After their pre-lunch, as Cyborg was calling it since he had many meals planned for the day, the group began a game of volleyball. Raven played referee, as per usual, but was more interested in her book than the game. So whenever they questioned her about whether a ball was in or out she'd simply choose one or the other. After a while they became fed up and began to 'accidentally' send the ball flying her way, trying to knock the book out of her hands. It never even came close.

"When did this become dodge ball?" she asked, shooting the ball up into the air with her powers as high as she could. Starfire flew up to fetch it.

"It wouldn't have if you took playing ref seriously," said Cyborg, staring up into the sky, along with the other two men, and trying to find where Starfire and the ball went.

"If I did you'd have argued with my rulings anyway," she shrugged. "Besides, I've just reached the climax of my book. I find this more important than your sport."

"Uh, Raven, how high did you send that ball?" asked Nightwing, still looking up.

"Beats me," she said and turned the next page in her book.

Beast Boy whistled, "I don't see Star at all. Not a speck, nothing!"

It went quiet as they continued to look up. Raven eventually looked up as well, growing concerned as to whether she'd sent the ball out of the Earth's orbit. Finally a small dot appeared and began to grow larger is it descended. Before long Starfire landed and presented the ball with a smile.

"I have retrieved the ball of volley," she said. "Shall we continue our game?"

"How high up did you fly?" asked Cyborg.

"Oh not very," she said, though that was a relative term considering what Starfire believed to be high. "While I was up there an airplane was passing by so I decided to wave to everyone. They were quite pleased."

"You probably gave the pilot a good scare," Beast Boy chuckled.

"Well all of that sky staring's given me an appetite," said Cyborg, rubbing his metallic abdomen. "Who wants barbeque chicken?"

"Oh, I shall have some!" said Starfire, raising her hand.

"I'm still kind of full but I guess I could have a little," Nightwing shrugged.

"Count me out," said Beast Boy, and rightly so.

"I'm going to finish this chapter then go for a walk," said Raven as she stuck her nose back into her book.

"Really? Whereabouts?" asked the changeling, his eyes growing bright and his ears perking up.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Around the pond, I guess. I'll go feed the ducks and geese some bread."

"Oh no, you're not using my buns to feed those web footed moochers," Cyborg protested. He was still terribly bitter over an incident that had happened two years before during a day at the park when a large goose had stolen his sandwich after he'd fallen asleep by the pond.

"You brought enough to feed two football teams," said Raven. "I'm taking a package. Besides, you didn't buy them."

"Neither did you," Cyborg countered.

"Nightwing," Raven turned to the team leader.

"She can take a package to feed the ducks," Nightwing said firmly, though the corners of his lips were most certainly pointing up.

Cyborg grumbled and dragged his heavy feet to the grill to begin cooking once again. Starfire and Nightwing chuckled at the robotic man's defeat and decided to lie down on the blanket and take a rest until their food was ready. Beast Boy seemed to suddenly disappear.