Mail Day. Just the name of it sent a shiver up Raven's spine. The ill awaited day when the Titans would look through all of their mail. Or rather, one unlucky Titan would sort through it and deliver each Titan their private mail.
Raven was currently sitting in the Titan's kitchen, glaring at the colossus stack of envelopes and packages addressed to the Teen Titans. The frigid air of the air conditioner bit at Raven's face and arms. The plastic chair she was sprawled onto was biting painfully into her spine. She shifted in her seat.
"It's now or in a few hours, aka when everyone wakes up. Let's get this over with before the peanut gallery wakes up."
A sigh escaped Raven's lips as she began the perilous task of sorting through the Teen Titan's mail. It had became a habit of the Titans to check the mail every two weeks, leaving the various envelopes and packages to pile up around their mailbox. Then, the five teens would draw straws to choose the unlucky victim who would be forced to sort through it all.
Normally, Raven would be able to get out of mail duty, mostly out of dumb luck. The task of sorting usually fell to Beast Boy. Unfortunately, he was holed up in the infirmary with a broken arm. (Totally not her fault, his training course for that week had just been too hard.)
Therefore, when the remaining Titans drew straws, Raven drew the shortest straw. She had complained about it for a couple of hours, even going as far as hiding out in her room to get out of it, but Raven knew she was only delaying her pain.
'Fan mail for Robin, fan mail for Starfire, car magazine for Cyborg,' Raven grimaced as she came upon a envelope that was smeared with cherry red lipstick. 'Fan mail for an unfortunate Robin. A coupon for... Tofu?!' Raven sighed. 'Looks like Beast Boy's been on a shopping spree.'
For the next few hours Raven continued to sift through the mail, sorting each piece into one of the seven piles; Robin, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, junk mail, or important. The one perk of having Mail Duty was getting to see her friends' mail without snooping in their belongings. (Not that she'd ever done that before.) This indirectly gave her a peek at their individual personalities.
Robin's pile was huge, stretching precariously towards the ceiling. A large portion of it was fan mail from his adoring (and mildly obsessive) fans. Most of it was along the lines of 'Marry me Robin,' 'I love you,' and 'When are you and Starfire getting together?'
'Jokes on them, Robin and I have been dating for a few months now.'
Amongst the fan mail was a variety of magazines, ranging from 'Detective Daily' to 'People.'
'Hmm, Boy Blunder enjoys a bit of celebrity gossip, eh! I'll just store that in my blackmail supply.' A smile stretched itself across Raven's pale face.
Leaning against the table were a few packages, all addressed to the Boy Wonder himself. If Raven had to take a guess at what they were, she would probably say supplies for the gym.
'Maybe it could also be materials for some new gadgets. He's always coming up with new ideas to improve his performance in battle.'
Starfire, too had giant stacks of mail. A lot of it spilled onto the floor. Again, most of it was fan mail. The senders could range from adoring fans, to jealous girls, even to perverted suitors. (Raven always made sure to get their names and addresses. You know, for "security reasons.")
She also had several samples of makeup, lotions, and body care products. Just looking at all the brightly colored pamphlets made her head spin, not to mention the horrifically long lists of "all natural" ingredients in each sample.
'There's no doubt that Star will buy every one of these products. Hopefully she'll spare me the six hour mall excursion.' Raven blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. 'A girl can only hope.'
Cyborg's pile was significantly smaller, but it was still a decent size. He received his fair share of fan mail, but it was mostly wannabe techies or amateur mechanics. Every so often, Cy would receive a letter from a few professional scientists who would ask for his help. Those were usually answered as soon as they reached Cyborg's room.
Raven squinted at a marbled envelope that had Cyborg's name drawn neatly in cursive on the front.
'Ah, that must be Jinx.' Cyborg and Jinx had become extremely close in the last couple of months, to the point where they could be considered 'in a relationship.' To avoid unwelcome arguments with Jinx's teammates, both parties wrote each other letters. They passed each other off as pen pals.
Other than his letters, Cyborg's pile contained a fair amount of car and technology magazines, and lots of oil-stained packages. 'Parts for the T Car, no doubt.'
Beast Boy's stack of mail contained several returned letters. 'Twenty in two weeks?! Beast Boy must have really loved Terra.'
After discovering Terra's new address (with a little help from Raven), Beast Boy sent Terra letters daily. Unfortunately, Terra hadn't regained her memory, and Beast Boy's efforts were in vain. She always sent back his letters, and most of them were unopened. Mail Day was always a hard time for poor Beast Boy.
'Let's not depress him even more. He's already been through a lot.' Raven took nineteen of the letters and used her powers to tear them to shreds. She watched as black energy shredded the fancy paper and dropped it on the table.
The shredded scraps were once again engulfed in dark energy as Raven directed them into the trash bin. 'There. Now he won't be that disappointed.'
Small packages reigned supreme in Beast Boy's pile of mail, and if Raven had to take a guess at what they were, she'd say video games. Her eye twitched. Just thinking about all the loud shouts, complaints, and bragging that was sure to come gave her a migraine.
'I'll be sure to avoid the common room for the next few days.'
The junk mail pile was small, usually only containing a few letters. This is because no business in Jump City wanted to piss off the Teen Titans.
The only pamphlets in the stack were an insurance brochure, a retired living brochure, and several coupons for Tofu.
'Why on Earth would we need any of these. Our insurance is covered by the city and none of us are old enough to retire.' Raven's glanced at the Tofu coupons and rolled her eyes. 'Beast Boy is lucky I'm in a generous mood today.' Raven picked up the coupons and set them on top of Beast Boy's mail. The other brochures went straight into the trash.
Raven yawned. She reached up to rub her eyes. 'What time is it?' She looked at the red block numbers of the clock on the microwave. 'It's 3 AM?!' Raven groaned. 'Robin will be up in about an hour, I should hurry up.'
Raven shuddered. She knew Robin wouldn't be happy with her staying up all night, especially for something as trivial as Mail Duty. He'd become extremely protective of her, especially after they started dating.
The pile of unsorted mail was slowly diminishing, Raven estimated that she had about thirty minutes of work left until she was done. 'Then I can relax.'
The Titan's important mail always went to Robin. He'd sort through them first, then inform the team what information they contained. The letters in there mostly included bills, letters from the city, or, occasionally, letters from Titan's East, or other heroes.
'And here we have Raven's mail. Marvel at it's pathetic size, and don't forget to laugh at it's contents...' Raven narrated. True to her words, Raven's mail was in one word, pathetic.
She only received a small amount of fan mail, and most of it was terrible 'dark poetry,' or some creep trying to score an one stand. Raven refrained from showing any of those to Robin, for fear of him beating the life out of the senders.
Other than her letters, Raven also had her weekly delivery of tea bags, imported directly from Asia. She inhaled the scent of herbs and sighed. 'I can't wait to relax with a good book and some of this tea.'
She could see it now. With all of the mail sorted, Raven finally allowed herself to indulge in a fantasy. 'Maybe I could go to the roof. It's supposed to be warmer today. Besides, it'll do me good to have some fresh air...'
Raven was so absorbed into her plans, that she didn't notice a red, green, and yellow clad Titan stroll into the kitchen, thirty minutes earlier than he should be...
Robin walked into the kitchen, intent on getting a cup of coffee to start his day. He wasn't sure why, but Robin had woken up a lot earlier than usual. His gut told him something was up, so he dragged himself out of bed.
Robin's original plan was to head to the evidence room, possibly to finish up some paperwork from the previous week. On his way there, he passed the kitchen, and something told him to stop there.
'That's odd, the light is already on. Who could be up this early? I'll just be quiet so I won't disturb anyone.' Robin snuck into the kitchen, making a beeline for the coffee maker. That is, until he caught a glimpse of blue in the corner of his eye.
Slowly, Robin turned around, so he was facing the day dreaming empath. His lips quirked into a frown as he saw the massive piles of mail. 'She must have been at this all night.' Robin sighed. 'Oh, Raven.'
He slunk towards her, careful not to alert Raven to his presence. Taking a closer look at her, Robin saw the slight bags under her eyes and her tangled violet hair. His arms snaked around Raven's waist and he pulled her to his chest.
Instantly, Robin was knocked halfway across the kitchen. Several appliances exploded in a barrage of black magic. Raven jumped out of her chair, her eyes aglow and magic at the ready.
Robin groaned. 'Damn, Raven is a lot stronger than she looks.'
"Hey, Rae." Raven's eyes dimmed and her magic disappeared as she realized that Robin was her 'assailant.' A few seconds later, her eyes widened in realization. She had been caught.
Robin dragged his body up off of the tiled kitchen floor. He took five large steps, and suddenly he was standing right in front of Raven. Robin grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips.
"Raven, have you been up all night?" His tone was soft, but it held an air of intensity. All she could offer in return was a weak smile.
"Better now than later. You know how everyone acts on Mail Day. I'd rather not put myself through the misery of doing this while everyone's awake." Raven moved her face closer to Robin's. "Besides, Boy Blunder, what are you going to do about it?"
Robin smirked. He was hoping she would say something like that. Raven was initiating a challenge, and Robin was never one to pass one up.
"Well," His face got closer and closer to Raven, until their foreheads were touching. "I'll do this, of course." Robin tightened his grip on Raven's petit waist. He swept her legs out from under her and picked her up bridal style, all in one foul swoop.
Raven, who was taken completely by surprise, squealed. Her fists lightly pounded on Robin's back.
"Robin, put me down! I have to finish my job! Just give me ten more minutes, and I'll go straight to sleep."
"Not today Raven. You've been up all night, and even half demons need to sleep." Raven struggled against Robin, but his iron clad grip wasn't budging. He reached an arm out to press the elevator button. The doors opened, and Robin stepped in.
"What about the mail? If we leave it here, Beast Boy and Cyborg will ruin it!"
"Don't worry about it. I'll handle the delivery." The elevator dinged and Robin strolled out. He walked down the darkened hallway until he reached Raven's door.
"Is it okay if I sleep in here tonight?" Raven mumbled her consent as Robin punched in her passcode and walked into her room. He set Raven onto her bed and pulled the sheets away.
The couple slid under the blankets and pressed against each other. Robin's arms snaked around Raven's waist as she nestled into his chest.
"Robin?" He looked down at Raven, only to see her wide amethyst eyes staring at him. "Thanks." Her eyes drooped shut.
Robin stroked her hair. "Anything for you, Rae."