Current Events > Teen Titans CYOA: Romance Resurrected Part 22

(+) Yeah! (+)

A.

B

A

A

Raven's hands cover her face but she doesn't stop Argent.

"It actually starts in a pretty funny way," Argent says. "See, Rorek's sisters made these really cute outfits for all of us, did our make-up, and it was a lot of fun. But Raven had snuck away to have some private time with Rorek. Jinx and I kinda interrupted that, total accident, but Rorek, that naughty little horn dog, goes and locks the doors to the room. Then he goes and wraps us all up and gets us on the bed together!"

"No...!" Bumblebee drags out again. "What?"

"Yeah, true story!" Argent says. "Cute little line-up the three of us make, right? Rorek's strong hands were all over us, too. But it was so funny to see Jinx's change of mood, the moment the boxers came down!"

Argent laughs and Jinx is bright red again.

"What? Why?" Bumblebee asks with a bit of a giggle.

"That actually is a good question," Raven says as she puts her hands down to look at Jinx. "What were you expecting?"

"Wait, wait, hold on," Bumblebee says. "Was it like...?"

She holds her hands out a few inches apart, suggesting the size.

"Oh, no no," Argent says. "If Rorek was available at Subway, he'd be $5."

Bumblebee thinks on that, and then laughs as soon as it clicks.

"Right, okay, I get it," she says with a nod and finger point. "That's a good one. So like, what? You two watched or something?"

"For the first part," Argent says, her coy smile returning. "It was super hot, too. Raven has really good moves."

"Raven," Arella says, now starting to sound disappointed.

"Don't worry, Mum," Argent says, "no one went all the way. Third base at most."

"What is that in Earth terms again?" Starfire asks.

"Uh..." Argent says while doing the math. "Tamaranians would say we only went to 40%."

"What kinda system do Tamaranians have?" Jinx asks.

"Well-" Starfire starts, but Raven puts a hand over her mouth.

"Let's not get started on that," Raven says.

"Anyway," Argent continues, "it was only a few minutes before Jinx and I got involved. Jinx was so cute having Rorek kiss her all over, and I got to kiss Raven all over."

"My goodness," Arella says.

"Raven and Jinx were surprisingly easy to please, so I got to have some fun on my own," Argent says with a proud smile. "Then Jinx and Raven got involved again, and Rorek stacked us. SO hot!"

"Wow," Bumblebee says. "Goth girls are built different, I guess. So this was the only time this happened?"

"Yes," Raven says at the same time as Argent.

"Well, I think that was enough revelation," Arella says. "Let's go ahead and have something to eat, hm?"

"Yes, let's," Raven says.

The group gets up from the couch to go to the kitchen to have salads.

A) Stick with the ladies
B) Return to the fellas

A

A.

A)

bump, will work to get this tomorrow

A

Everyone is served a nice full bowl of garden salad, with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber and shredded carrots, as well as croutons and salad dressing. The group then sits at the dining table booth, Raven and Arella in the middle.

"C'mon, Ms. Arella," Argent says. "Don't you have some wild stories to tell?"

"I don't think we need to hear those," Raven says.

"It's not like I have anything as wild as what you three just shared," Arella says.

"But you still have some?" Argent says with an eager smile.

"Uh..." Arella says, seeing Argent has here there. "Well, even so, I'm still not sharing those stories."

"Aww..." Argent pouts.

"What's with you?" Jinx asks Argent.

"But I will say," Arella says, "for all of my ups and downs, I'm glad to have gone through them all, because they add up to my life with Raven, and her future with Rorek. I wouldn't change a single thing."

"Mom..." Raven says with a sweet smile.

Mother and daughter hug and the others let out a little "Aww..." together.

"Okay, okay," Raven says as she pulls back and blinks the wetness from her eyes away. "Let's not get all teary eyed here. Um, okay, we did Tamaranian stuff since Star is my maid of honor, but is there anything Azarath does for weddings?"

"Um, well, not having to do with songs or special outfits," Arella says. "Or sharing stories and revealing feelings."

Argent pouts hearing that.

"But there are maybe a few things specific to Azarathian culture," Arella says. "How about..."

A) Anointing
B) Cleansing
C) Mehndi

C

C

C

"Mehndi? Or, the Azarath equivalent."

"As in like, Hindu henna tattoos?" Bumblebee asks.

"Yes, that's the one," Arella says. "We simply draw nice patterns on Raven's hands, maybe up to her wrists and forearms, or even her feet and ankles."

"Oooh, yes, let us do the art on Raven's body!" Starfire says.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Argent says.

"Dibs on hands, though," Jinx says. "I don't wanna draw on Raven's feet."

"My feet aren't that bad," Raven says. "Are they...?

The group finishes up their salads, then moves back to the couch. Raven slips off her shoes but is a little self conscious about her feet now, namely the toes. Her big toes aren't that big, are they?

"Hold on, let me wash my hands and feet," Raven says.

Raven floats away to go to the nearest bathroom and washes her feet in the tub. Rorek's never said anything about her feet, other than that neither has a foot fetish. Though, he did choose not to draw her feet that one time. But that was because he doesn't do well with feet.

Raven grumbles and scrubs her feet harder, then washes her hands. She dries them all off very thoroughly, floats her way back to the living room. By this time, the others have gotten henna paint and brushes.

"Okay," she says. "Go ahead."

"Now, remember, the patterns have to match," Arella says.

"Aw, where's the fun in that?" Jinx asks. "Why not have unique art for each hand and foot?"

"Well, it's not the tradition," Raven says. "And it'll look nicer if the patterns are symmetrical. You put the hands together and you can have almost a mural or panoramic painting."

"That would look really nice," Bumblebee says.

"Let's agree on an overall theme, then," Arella says.

The group thinks it over, and they decide on...

A) Floral
B) Feathers
C) Geometric

C

B

B

B

... feathers, which just makes sense because she's Raven. The group then takes a moment to discuss the plan.

"The feathers should be pointing towards Raven's fingers," Argent says. "Y'know, like cuffs on sleeves?"

"But then what?" Jinx asks. "We only go up to the back of her hand? The fingers don't give a lot of room to work with."

"Yeah, yeah," Bumblebee says, "the stems of the feathers should be on the fingers, and then we use all of the hand and forearm for the fluff of the feathers."

Bumblebee traces her own hand on a piece of paper, then draws an example of a feather going from middile finger to wrist.

"That's a great idea," Arella says. "Each finger has a calamus, the downy feather and afterfeather, then as the calamus shaft extends into the rachis along Raven's hand, we carefully shade in the vane and the barbs."

"Uh, yeah, okay," Argent says, not keeping up with the feather anatomy terminology. "Maybe Miss Arella should draw them out first and we just kinda trace over to make them bolder."

"That probably would be for the best," Raven says.

Raven puts her hands out and Arella starts with Raven's right hand. Arella uses a thin brush to paint a calamus shaft on each finger. She makes sure each one is thicker at the start than at the end. The downy and afterfeather are the fluffiest and, in a sense, messiest part of the feather, so she draws very distinct follicles.

Then Arella moves to drawing the long oval shape of the feather's vane, a soft point at the end before coming back to the calamus. Arella leaves it at the first row, one each for Raven's eight fingers, leaving the thumbs alone for now.

"There we are," Arella says as she sits back.

"Wow...!" the others marvel.

"A-Are you sure you don't wanna draw all the feathers out?" Argent asks with a nervous smile.

"It's not so difficult," Arella says with a chuckle. "Just draw this same oval shape. Though, you can add some little indentations. You've seen that, right? Where the feather has the little breaks in the vane where the barbs are parted? Like this."

Arella adds a triangular indentation to the one on Raven's ring finger as an example.

"Oh, okay, yeah," Argent says. "That could work."

Argent and Jinx work on tracing the feathers, using broader brushes and heavier ink. They still do a good job of going broader at the base and thinner at the tip. They also choose for themselves where the indentations go, so that there isn't really symmetry between Raven's hands, but it works for some realism.

Argent and Jinx carefully start on the second row to cover the back of Raven's hands, making sure to match each other with placement. With four in the front row, they're able to get five in the second row, starting to extend to the side of Raven's hands, and along the way to the thumb.

The feathers are added row by row, all the way to Raven's elbow, and all around her forearm. Her palms were left alone, however, as she still needs to touch and grab things and they can't have henna ink getting everywhere. But even so, it all took over half an hour just for this much.

"Those look great already!" Bumblebee says. "Now, do we color them in or what?"

"Well, maybe," Arella says. "Usually coloring things in would mean just using more of this black ink, but we can't just have giant blotches of black ink on her body."

"Blue should be alright," Starfire says, "as Raven does like it the most."

"Blue would look nice," Raven says as she imagines it for herself.

"We should also paint your nails!" Jinx says.

A) Yes
B) No

A

A

A

"Yes, a wonderful idea!" Starfire says. "We shall give Raven colorful rainbow nails to contrast with the feathers!"

"No, no, no," Raven says.

"I was thinking more they should match," Jinx says. "Maybe blue to match the feathers, or black to match to outlines."

"Hmm, okay, that sounds better," Raven says. "Um, I'm not sure which would look better..."

"We should do each hand differently," Argent says. "Raven's right hand can have blue nails and her left hand can have black nails."

"Yeah!" the others agree.

They bring out nail polish and get to work, Argent and Jinx handling the nails while Bumblebee and Starfire paint the feathers. Raven sits very, very still, but she's a bit antsy. She uses a bit of meditation tricks to calm down. And before she knows it, everything is done.

Raven marvels at the sapphire blue nails on her one hand and the ebony black on her other, while also admiring the blue gradients in the feathers.

"Wow, Star, you're almost like a printer," Bumblebee says. "That's like, perfect."

"Thank you," Starfire smiles. "Now for Raven's feet!"

"Maybe just the nail polish," Raven says. "You all already spent a lot of time painting the feathers."

"That's true," Bumblebee says. "But let's swap 'em! Right foot gets the black nail polish, left foot gets the blue."

Starfire puts Raven's feet up on the coffee table for her and the girls get to work.

"Well you all have this well in hand," Arella says. "Or, well on foot? I'll go ahead and start on dinner."

A) Pasta
B) Casserole
C) Seafood Boil

C

C

C

"I'm going to make a seafood boil," she says as she goes to the kitchen. "There isn't much in the way of variety for fish and other things in Azarath, so I am going to take full advantage of what's here on Earth."

Arella brings out the biggest pot the Titans have and fills it with water. She seasons it by adding some Cajun spices and hot sauce, as well as slices of onions and lemon. She puts in baby potatoes and Andouille sausages and lets those cook for about 15 minutes.

In that time, the girls have finished painting Raven's toes, and she reclines back, keeping her toes apart with the classic foam dividers. Arella remembers those days, and is happy to see her own daughter enjoying similar memories.

Once the potatoes are tender enough to poke with a fork, Arella adds several cobs of corn, and then the seafood. There's shrimp and pieces of crab, and these will cook for about seven more minutes while Arella makes the garlic butter sauce.

In a saucepan, of course, Arella uses medium heat to melt butter while adding garlic cloves, lemon juice, Cajun spices, parsley, paprika and more hot sauce. She stirs it as it simmers, and this takes only five minutes, perfect timing.

Arella lines a baking sheet with foil, turns off the heat and strains the boiling pot. The crab, corn, shrimp and all that are spread out evenly and she pours the garlic butter sauce over it. She tosses it like the salad to evenly coat everything, and it is finished.

"Alright, ladies," she says. "Dinner is served."

"These should be dry, right?" Raven asks the others as she checks her arms and finger nails.

"Yeah those look good," Argent says.

"And good thing I can levitate," Raven says as she gets her feet off the table.

Raven does float her way to the kitchen counter as the others walk over.

"Oh, those do look nice," Arella says as she looks at Raven's fingers and the fathers painted on her arms.

"These look good, too," Bumblebee says. "Love the smell of the seasonings."

Everyone fills their plates with what they want, between the corn, potatoes, shrimp and crab. Everyone has a tall glass of lemonade to go with the meal, then sit back at the couch to eat while watching a movie.

"Not horror," Bumblebee, Argent and Jinx say.

"What?" Raven says.

"This is a bachelorette party, not a Halloween party," Jinx says. "Even if it is Raven's bachelorette party."

"Fine," Raven grumbles. "But then no romcoms. I want something that's good."

A) Musical
B) Action
C) Mystery

C

C)

C

The group goes for a mystery movie so that it has great thrills and chills, and of course the mystery to try and solve before the movie is over. As such, they find Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, the 1974 film adaptation which marks the 40 year anniversary of the novel.

The film opens with news clippings about the kidnapping of one Daisy Armstrong. She has been missing for almost five years, and then she is found... murdered!

Cut to December of 1935, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot has wrapped a case for a British Army garrison in Jordan and is now headed for London. He takes the Orient Express from Istanbul, where he encounters his old friend Signor Bianchi, a director of the company that owns the rail line. Bianchi offers Poirot a compartment and they ride together.

The other passengers are: American widow, Harriet Belinda Hubbard; English governess, Mary Debenham; Swedish missionary Greta Ohlsson; American businessman Samuel Ratchett, with his secretary/translator, Hector McQueen, and English valet Edward Beddoes; Italian-American car salesman Antonio "Gino" Foscarelli; elderly Russian Princess, Natalia Dragomiroff, and her German maid, Hildegarde Schmidt; Hungarian Count Rudolf Andrenyi and his wife Elena; British Indian Army Colonel, John Arbuthnott; and American theatrical agent, Cyrus Hardman.

"There's our cast of suspects," Raven mutters while pulling apart a crab leg.

The morning after the train departs, Ratchett tries to secure Poirot's services as a bodyguard for $15,000 as he has received death threats. Poirot declines Ratchett's offer, telling him, "My interest in your case is... dwindling."

That night, Bianchi gives Poirot his compartment and shares a coach with Stavros Constantine, a Greek doctor. The train is stopped by a snowdrift between Vinkovci and Brod in Yugoslavia, and Poirot is awoken from sleep several times, once by a scream from Ratchett's cabin. So of course the next morning, Ratchett is found stabbed to death!

"Guess there was something to those threats," Bumblebee says.

Bianchi of course asks Poirot to solve the case. Poirot enlists help from Dr. Constantine, who ascertains that Ratchett was stabbed 12 times in a distorted pattern and with seemingly varying accuracy and lethality.

Found at the crime scene is a fragment of a letter, revealing that Ratchett was actually Lanfranco Cassetti, a gangster, who five years earlier planned the kidnapping and murder of Daisy Armstrong, infant daughter of wealthy British Army Colonel Hamish Armstrong and his American wife, Sonia.

Starfire gasps, which actually startles the others.

"Relax, Star, this is all fiction," Raven says. "There was no real Daisy Armstrong murder."

Starfire calms down and then takes a huge bite out of her corn cob.

Cassetti had a Mafia colleague help him kidnap and kill Daisy, but then betrayed him and fled the country with the ransom money; he was only revealed on the eve of his partner's execution. Overcome with grief, the pregnant Mrs. Armstrong gave premature birth to a stillborn baby and died in the process. Colonel Armstrong, consumed by grief from the loss of his family, committed suicide. A French maidservant named Paulette, wrongly suspected of complicity in the kidnapping, had also committed suicide to avoid being arrested, but was found innocent afterwards. A truly tragic turn of events.

Further clues are discovered, including a pipe cleaner, a handkerchief with the initial "H", Cassetti's broken watch, and a conductor's suit. Poirot's timeline of passenger activities the night before indicates that Cassetti was murdered at about 1:15 AM, the time of the smashed watch and the scream. As the coach was isolated through the night, the murderer is still on the train! This is the big moment everyone gasps.

Poirot says one of its passengers, or the train's French conductor, Pierre Michel, must be the murderer. The investigation begins, and Mrs. Hubbard reports that she detected a man in her room, later finding the bloodied knife discarded in her compartment. Foscarelli dramatically hints the murder was most likely part of a Mafia feud.

Poirot interviews the passengers and the conductor. He learns: Hector McQueen is the son of the District Attorney working the Armstrong case, and was very fond of Mrs. Armstrong; Beddoes had been a British Army "batman," aka a soldier assigned to an officer as a personal servant, not the superhero.

Continuing on: Greta Ohlsson appears to have limited knowledge of English but has been to America; Countess Andrenyi is of German descent, and her maiden name is Grnwald (German for "Greenwood", Mrs. Armstrong's maiden name, making them relatives); Pierre Michel's daughter died five years earlier of scarlet fever; Colonel Arbuthnott, who displays knowledge of Armstrong's military decorations, also reveals his plans to marry Miss Debenham once his divorce from his philandering wife is finalized, which he claims was what the cryptic discussion Poirot overheard in Istanbul was about.

When Poirot questions Princess Dragomiroff, he discovers she was a friend of Linda Arden, retired American actress and Mrs. Armstrong's mother; the Princess was Sonia's godmother. Poirot also learns that the Armstrongs had a butler, a secretary, a cook, a chauffeur, and a nursemaid. Poirot flatters the Princess's maid, Schmidt, by noting how fine a cook she is, throwing her off. Foscarelli denies having been a chauffeur. Hardman reveals he is, in fact, a Pinkerton detective hired as a bodyguard by Cassetti. When Poirot shows him the photo of Paulette, he is visibly moved.

"Okay, who do you think it is?" Jinx asks quickly.

A) Hector McQueen
B) Countess Andreyni
C) An Armstrong servant

B

B

B

"I'm going with Countess Andreyni," Raven says. "Given that link of the maiden names, them being family, she might have wanted revenge on behalf of Sonia Armstrong."

"Not a bad point," Argent says. "I'd say Princess Dragomiroff then, for the same reasons."

Poirot gathers the suspects and describes two solutions to the murder. He advises them not to automatically dismiss either.

The first suggests Cassetti's murder was a Mafia feud killing - an unknown man disguised himself as conductor, stabbed Ratchett/Cassetti, and discarded the uniform coat, with the undetected assailant escaping from the train through the snow. This is rejected by Bianchi and Dr. Constantine as absurd but Poirot tells them they may reconsider that opinion. Poirot says that because the second solution is more complex and far-reaching, as it links ALL the suspects in the coach to the Armstrong case!

In addition to self-incriminating revelations Poirot had managed to extract from Hardman, McQueen, Schmidt, and the Princess, the detective has deduced Countess "Elena" Adreyni is actually Mrs. Armstrong's younger sister, Helena! Gasp!

Then, the Princess claimed the Armstrongs' secretary's was a "Miss Freebody," but this is in fact Mary Debenham, freely associated from the well-known British department store of the time known, "Debenhams and Freebody!" More gasp!

Thirdly, Beddoes was the Armstrong household's butle, Ohlsson was Daisy's nursemaid, and Colonel Arbuthnott was a close army friend of Mr. Armstrong. Additionally, Foscarelli was the family's chauffeur, Pierre was Paulette's father, Hardman was a policeman in love with Miss Paulette, and Mrs. Hubbard is in fact Linda Arden, Mrs. Armstrong's mother, and arguably the brains behind this whole plan.

Poirot then goes into his theory about how they carried out this plan: McQueen had drugged Cassetti, rendering him unconscious and allowing the conspirators to murder him jointly, 1the Andrenyis stabbing him together, totaling 12, one for each member of the jury, which would also explain wounds of differing damage. The scream and broken watch were provided by McQueen to convince Poirot that the murder had occurred earlier, when the other suspects were in the clear. In fact, the suspects joined to commit the murder once Poirot had returned to sleep, after two o'clock. The only passengers not involved in the murder would be Signor Bianchi and Dr. Constantine.

A hush falls on the room. Poirot asks Bianchi to choose one of the two solutions before the train is freed from the snowdrift, but admits that the Yugoslavian police will much prefer the simpler one. Bianchi, in sympathy with the suspects after learning how truly evil Cassetti was, proposes the first solution. Dr. Constantine and Poirot agree, although Poirot will struggle with his conscience. The train then, somewhat symbolically, is freed from the snowdrift and resumes its journey.

"Wait..." Jinx says. "So... It was no one?"

"No...!" Bumblebee says as the revelation hits her. "Poirot's second theory says it was everyone. So, that has to be what happened! But then, leaving it in Bianch's hands, Poirot knew Bianchi would let them all off the hook."

"It is quite the moral dilemma," Starfire says. "Arresting that many people would affect so much, even though it would be what justice demands."

"But it's also a bit of that sentiment that justice was already served," Raven says. "Cassetti being behind the kidnapping and death of an innocent child, which then ruined the lives of the Armstrong family and the maid, Paulette, there was no need to drag more people into the mud."

"Well, for us being superheroes saving the world from supervillains," Bumblebee says, "I'm glad to leave much more messy things to police and detectives."

A) Agreed
B) Disagreed

A.

A

A

A

"Agreed," Raven says. "As goth as I come off, I don't think I could face recent death time and again. We really have to respect those who do."

"Exactly," Bumblebee says.

"Don't you think we could do something about the crime problem if we did help, though?" Argent asks.

"Well, yeah," Raven says, "but sadly, so much happens every day, it would just be overwhelming. It's maybe a bit cynical, but our powers help us handle problems regular authorities can't, so that's why we only handle those problems. Occasional supervillain bank roberries aside, of course."

"I guess so..." Argent says.

With the movie over, and dinner almost over, that means it is time for dessert!

A) Chocolate, Coconut & Cherry Sponge Cake
B) Chocolate mousse & caramel popcorn
C) Peach & Raspberry Mascarpone

A

Though Raven does bring up a good point here, most superheros will only ever pursue extra-ordinary villains rather then stopping all crime thats happening. There are a few outlyers with this, Spider-Man will stop most crime he sees, and the Flash will stop most things if hes aware of it, but alot of the heros dont actively go out of their way to stop crime or even investigate, again Batman being an outlier. Just goes to show how morally gray superheros really are.

A)

C.

bump, very busy today

A

From out of the refrigerator, Arella brings out a chocolate-coconut-cherry sponge cake. It's a lovely, round cake with chocolate syrup and dried raspberries on top. It's cut six ways to leave nothing left over.

Everyone takes a bite at the same time.

"Mmm~!" they all hum together.

"Thish ish sho gud!" Jinx says, mouth still full of cake.

"It's so... so...!" Argent says while thinking. "Ugh, what's the word I'm thinking of?"

"Flerbusri?" Starfire says.

"Um... Depends, what does it mean?"

"The ecstasy one feels from eating or drinking something as delicious and decadent as this spongey cake!" Starfire says.

"Then okay," Argent says while she and the others giggle. "This is definitely fler-bus-ree."

"So flerbusri!" Bumblebee adds.

"Very flerbusri," Raven says with a big smile.

The group continues to eat the "flerbusri" sponge cake, then they chug milk to wash it all down.

"So when are the boys due back?" Arella asks.

"Sometime in the morning, but no later than 11," Raven says. "I wonder how they're doing, they should've had their own dinner by now."

[cut to Rorek]

"Beast Boy!" Cyborg shouts up in the tree. "Get down here with the pudding! You already had three of 'em with lunch!"

Beast Boy as a green spider monkey shouts at Cyborg from one of the branches, then goes back to eating the chocolate pudding out of the cup without a spoon. He's holding the rest of the "snack pack" with his feet while hanging from the branch with his prehensile tail.

"It's alright," you say. "We packed plenty of other desserts."

You go into the cooler and bring out chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches.

"Wait, who already had some of these?" you ask. "There was ten but now there's seven."

"Uh, who knows," Grandfather Sixth says. "Maybe Beast Boy snuck some of those, too."

You look up at him and see chocolate cookie crumbs in his beard.

"Sixth, you're cut off," you say.

"Alright," he grumbles. "Just don't tell your grandma."

[cut to Raven]

"So are we doing anything special to wrap things up before going to bed?" Bumblebee asks.

"We could try Ep'aedra," Starfire says.

"Another Tamaranian tradition?" Raven asks.

"Yes," Starfire says. "I promise it has nothing to do with singing, dancing or sharing stories pertaining to one's romantic experiences."

A) Give Ep'aedra a try
B) Just play a game
C) Just watch another movie

A.

A

A

"Okay," Raven says, "let's do Ep'aedra."

Starfire then glomps onto Raven and almost knocks her over on the couch!

"Star!" Raven blurts out. "Why'd you tackle me?"

"This is Ep'aedra!" Starfire says. "The Snuggling Mass!"

"Snuggling?" the others say.

"Yes," Starfire says with a proud, beaming smile. "We snuggle up to be physically close to our closest friends."

"Aw how cute," Jinx says. "Hey!"

Jinx is caught off guard as Argent spoons up behind her and pushes her into Raven from the other side.

"Ep'aedra!" Argent says as she presses against Jinx which presses Jinx into the side of Raven's chest.

"Argent!" Jinx complains.

"Well, guess I'll come in from this side," Bumblebee says as she cozies up behind Starfire. "That way, Raven's the middle."

"Wait, we need Arella in here, too!" Argent says as she reaches out.

"Oh, um, I don't know," Arella says, shy and flustered. "You girls don't need some old lady- AH!"

Argent uses her red energy to make a shape to push Arella forward. She stumbles forward to the couch, and Starfire swaps her and Raven around so that Raven sits on Arella's lap, head resting against her mother's bosom. Then Starfire snuggles up to them both, with Argent again pressing Jinx against the side of bosoms, but this time Arella's. Bumblebee scratches her cheek with a quizzical look before she settles back in behind Starfire.

"I don't think you've sat on my lap since you were five," Arella says.

"Yeah..." Raven says, red from embarrassment. "How long is Ep'aedra supposed to last once we start?"

"The amount of time is up to the group," Starfire says. "But the stronger the friendship, the longer it lasts."

"Or in other words," Raven says, "the length of time is seen as how close we are to each other."

"Yes," Starfire says. "And I am certain we can reach seven hours easily."

"Seven?!" the group blurts.

"Starfire, we might as well be getting some sleep at that point," Bumblebee says.

"Yeah, it's already pretty late," Jinx says.

"That is a good point," Starfire says. "But we can Ep'aedra Blebbu! The Snuggling Mass of Sleepers!"

"Uh... I-I guess," Raven says. "But my bed isn't going to fit all six of us."

"We can use the guest rooms like for Christmas," Argent says. "We might just be able to fit everyone on one of those queens."

"Then to the guest bedroom!" Starfire declares.

"Um, we still have to wash up and change for the night," Bumblebee points out.

"Oh," Starfire says. "Well, then we will put Ep'aedra on pause long enough for the brushing of teeth and changing of clothes."

The group gets up off the couch and exit the living room. They split up to use both bathrooms, and then regroup at the same guest room the ladies used for the holidays.

"Wow," Bumblebee says to Arella. "I had no idea you also wore a leotard like Raven's."

"Well, of course," Arella says as she puts her white robe aside. "What did you think I wore under my robes?"

"Um... Not really sure, now that I think of it."

"This one looks good," Argent says as she picks out the middle bed on the left side of the room.

"Then I'll just take this one," Arella says, going with the middle bed on the right side.

"No, no, Miss Arella," Starfire says. "Ep'aedra is for all of us!"

"Uh, are you sure?" Arella says. "Five is already a lot of people on one bed- Ah!"

Argent again uses her red energy construct to push her forward. Arella ends up on the bed face up, and then Starfire practically picks Raven up to bring her over to the bed.

A) Rest on Arella's left side
B) Rest on Arella's right side

B.

B

B

B

Starfire and Raven rest on Arella's right side, so Argent brings Jinx around to Arella's left.

"Okay, okay," Jinx says. "You don't need to keep pushing me..."

Jinx crawls onto the bed and carefully sidles up to Arella with Argent right behind her.

"Guess I'll just settle in back here again," Bumblebee says as she slips up behind Starfire.

Starfire and Argent are very giggly as the group settles in and gets comfortable. Raven and Jinx rest their heads on Arella's shoudlers, and they both blush as they make eye contact. But there's nothing they can do as Starfire and Argent trap them.

"We haven't shared a bed since you were five, either," Arella says. "Now I won't have to worry about smothering you."

"Well..." Argent says, but Jinx gives her a gentle elbow to the stomach.

"Let's just get some sleep, okay?" Raven says.

"Yes," Starfire says. "Let us drift away into Ep'aedra Blebbu."

Starfire then stretches her long legs that reach past Raven's and Bumblebee's, before resting on her back, head not even on a pillow, left arm still under Raven around her waist. Bumblebee isn't sure what to do but Starfire's right arm brings her in to rest against Starfire's side. Bumblebee blushes, but she's not going to be the one to ruin this Ep'aedra thing and upset Starfire.

Raven rests her arm across her mother's stomach, and Jinx's arm is just above, near Arella's chest. Argent full on spoons Jinx, arms wrapped around her waist, chest pressed against Jinx's back and head nuzzling the nape of Jinx's neck. Jinx tries not to feel awkward being stuck between so much marshmallow softness. Jinx never put it together before but Arella is definitely where Raven gets her curves from.

As time goes by, Starfire and Bumblebee drift off to sleep, followed by Arella. Argent starts feeling drowsy but Jinx and Raven are still awake. They both try to keep their eyes closed in hopes they'll fall asleep, but then they open their eyes to look around. Raven sees Jinx with her eyes closed, but then closes her eyes before Jinx opens her eyes again. Then they both open their eyes at the same time and lock eyes.

Raven and Jinx blush and even pout, but neither looks away. Jinx balls up her hand and bends her leg a little, causing her leg to brush against Raven's. This makes Jinx crane her neck to look, and then she moves her leg away.

"Oh whatever," Raven whispers. "We've touched more than legs before."

"Don't remind me," Jinx whispers back with a pout.

The two stare at each other, flustered.

"Stop thinking about it," Raven whispers.

"About what?" Jinx asks.

"You know what! The time at Timberline."

"I-I wasn't thinking of that," Jinx defends.

"Don't lie, I'm an Empath, remember?" Raven says with a frown.

"That doesn't mean you're a mind reader," Jinx retorts.

"Girls..." Arella mumbles. "No... arguing..."

Arella lets out a little sigh before going back to sleep. Raven and Jinx blush again, but they do quietly giggle. Raven settles in and closes her eyes, and Jinx does the same.

"How cute," Argent whispers right in Jinx's ear. "If only Rorek was here to witness it."

Jinx's eyes shoot open as she realizes Argent wasn't asleep! She can't even figure out what to say, she's so embarrassed! Argent giggles as she feels Jinx trying to shrink away.

"Don't feel bad, Jinxy," Argent says as she tightly wraps her arms around Jinx. "That should be a cherished memory."

"Easy for you to say," Jinx says. "You don't have romantic baggage."

"It's only baggage if you hold onto it," Argent says. "Just let go."

Argent moves her hands up ever so slowly and Jinx is flustered again.

A) Stop her
B) Let her
C) Go somewhere else first