Running Errands [Beast Boy]

[Gia Stevens]

Ugh, this was annoying, honestly. Gia had to go out and run a few errands for the Stevens after school today, right? Totally fine, and she’d even asked Katie and Brittany to come with her, though neither of them could come, so the girl had thought that she’d just bee bop in, and bee pop out, no biggie. At least, that was what she thought until she saw the list.

It was going to be like grocery shopping, except other items instead of food! Mr. Stevens needed his medicine picked up, Mrs. Stevens needed her to pick up some books she had put on hold at the library, one of her favorite craft stores was having a sale so she had to pick up some yarn… Things like that. And it went one for way too long.

Had she had one of her friends with her, even just a classmate, it wouldn’t have been so bad, honestly, and she might’ve enjoyed herself. Made an outing of it, you know? Chatting with them, walking along and maybe window shopping, catching a bite to eat while they were out… That sort of thing. Just a girl’s day out.

But with her being all alone and all, especially when she had a giant pile of homework to look forward to at home (though some of it was Chemistry, which really wasn’t that bad), plus she was kind of hungry (that Hershey’s bar that Brittany had given her earlier had done nothing), it was shaping up to be a pretty darn miserable day.

Ugh. So, still in her school uniform, and bookbag swinging from one hand, Gia stepped along the sidewalk, eyes meandering back and forth between the stores and the list. Now, where was that craft store…

[Beast Boy]

“All I’m saying,” Beast Boy grumbled to himself as he changed from hawk to human outside the shopping center, “is that if you’re gonna send me on errands, at least let me drive the T-car!” It ceased to matter that Cyborg wasn’t around to listen to his arguments any longer. At this point, Beast Boy would settle for a mouse listening to his problems and agreeing with him. “But noooo. ‘You can fly, BB,’” he imitated, pulling a Cyborg face and deepening his voice. “So what?! I fly all the time! I never get to drive!” Folding his arms, Beast Boy moped the entire way toward the auto parts store, not really watching where he was going.

Until he glanced a familiar face, and his head stopped a few paces before his body did. “Terra?” he said automatically, then lit up and raised a hand as he dashed over to intercept her. “Terra! Hey!” Recalling their last conversation, he skidded to a halt a few feet away, his ears wilting. “...Are you gonna talk to me, or just tell me to get lost?” He knew she didn’t want him to use that name, but it was her name. He couldn’t make himself call her anything else. It didn’t seem right.

[Gia Stevens]

The call of a name, however unfamiliar it was on a conscious level, was something that she registered and knew, so without even realizing that she was doing it, Gia turned around absentmindedly, a “Hm?” on her lips before she even registered what name she was being called by, or who was doing it.

Immediately after she realized the latter, though, her eyes widened, surprised. Beast Boy? The one who continually insisted that she was Terra, and, however cute, wouldn’t leave her alone? Oh no, what to do now… Before she could make up her mind about whether it would be better to make a scene and flee, or just turn around and pretend that she never heard him, he stop, and, for lack of a better word, wilted.

…Darn it, boys her own age, especially green ones, shouldn’t look that adorable.

Biting her lip for a moment, Gia considered the question, really tempted to just tell him to get lost, before she let out a sigh. Honestly, any company would be better than none. But she still had her conditions. “If you stop calling me ‘Terra’, fine. My name’s Gia. G-I-A, Gia.”

No, she wasn’t Terra, definitely not. She really didn’t want to be.

[Beast Boy]

Never mind that there was a condition, she had said fine! Beast Boy jumped with glee, turned into a dog, and ran a few quick circles around her before stopping in front of her and wagging his tail. He turned human again after a moment, though still sitting, and grinned up at her. “I knew you’d realize I’m your friend!” he said, hopping up again. “I just knew it!” Her lack of enthusiasm at the idea wasn’t really something Beast Boy wanted to acknowledge, so the solution was simple: don’t.

Falling into step next to her, he asked, “So, what’re we doing?” Cyborg’s errands could wait. Getting Terra to be his friend again was way more important than the special kind of oil Cyborg had to use for the T-car. She hadn’t done all that well with the serious talk before, so maybe if he just acted like her friend and just talked to her, then she’d warm up to him again and everything would go back to the way it used to be. Things just had to work out. She wasn’t stone anymore. How could anything else compare with that?

[Gia Stevens]

…Okay, there should seriously be a law or something about how adorable teenagers were supposed to be. Seriously. Gia found herself tensing instinctively as he morphed, but relaxed when she realized it was only a cute little dog. A green one, but still cute.

However, when he turned back and spoke, the freshman frowned slightly. “I said we could talk,” she said firmly, as if daring him to argue. “I never said we were friends.” He seemed like a nice person, honestly, and someone that she would normally have a blast hanging out with. But with his hero-ness, his insistence that she was ‘Terra’, and just… his weirdness, not so much.

Normality is what she wanted.

“’We’?” Gia asked rhetorically, lifting an eyebrow, before she gestured to her list. “Running errands for the Stevenses. Picking up yarn, medicine, books…” She glanced side-long at him, wondering if it would deter him from accompanying her. “Pretty boring stuff.”

Honestly, she was conflicted. Half of her was glad that she was going to have company, especially as nice and funny company as the green boy walking beside her, but the other half wanted him and his ideas about her and her past, along with his hero-ness, far, far away. So she’d take it where the chips fell.

[Beast Boy]

Beast Boy’s ears wilted again. This conversation was a roller coaster.... “Geez, okay. Ouch.” She didn’t have to be so harsh about it. He’d stopped following her around and stuff, but he wasn’t about to ignore the fact that he’d run into her on accident. He wasn’t convinced that she was a completely different person. Whatever happened to her memory.... She could get it back. She had to.

“Oh, okay.” Grinning at her, he said hopefully, “Need someone to carry the bags?” Demonstratively, he changed into a gorilla, then sheepishly shrank back to human when he heard someone nearby gasp fearfully. “Whoops. Tone down the big transformations. Gotcha.” He rubbed the back of his head and waved apologetically to the girl, but she just ran off. He remembered why he didn’t wander around the city on his own very often. Habits died hard, and his habits tended to scare people.

“Look,” Beast Boy said seriously, walking a little ahead of Terra so he could watch her face and she couldn’t avoid his eyes so easily, “maybe I went about things the wrong way before. I was just excited to see you again, and I didn’t think you would’ve forgotten everything, then I thought that if you could only remember....” I still think that, he added to himself sadly. Slade couldn’t be right. There was no way. Terra had chosen the right side, even if it had taken her a while, and he was her friend. She wasn’t choosing to forget him. She liked him! “But that’s okay! See, because we were friends before, and it wasn’t because of our powers or that we were Titans together. It was because you’re cool, and funny, and smart.”

He grinned hopefully. “So, uh, maybe we could start over?” Trotting a few steps in front of her, he stopped and held out his hand. “Hi. I’m Beast Boy.”

[Gia Stevens]

Gia ended up wincing slightly as he dropped, feeling bad. She hadn’t wanted to be so harsh, didn’t want to just… crush him so badly, but he was someone butting into her otherwise normal life (she could forget about the dreams, they were just that: dreams), and he… reminded her too much. It was too painful.

The dreams would return tonight with a new intensity.

About to roll her eyes, and say something along the lines of ”Sure, why not,” Gia blinked in surprise at the transformation, taking an automatic step back, before someone gasped (it wasn’t that scary, just surprising), and he turned back to normal. …Alright, that won a smile from her. “Nice,” she told him with a small grin, a laugh bubbling up to the surface, but she closed the lid, keeping it contained.

Then, of course, he had to ruin their half-decent moment by going all serious. This couldn’t end well.

But she listened, unable to tear her gaze from his face, as she really didn’t want to walk right into him, and biting her lip. He sounded so… earnest, and confident in what he said, like it was the absolute truth, even as his voice wavered. He was so sure that she was ‘Terra’, that she wasn’t just a mere memory of her, at the most, and even if she wasn’t, even if Gia remained Gia, a maybe memory, and never a hero or a Titan, he wanted to be her friend.

This was more than she had ever gotten from anyone, in the whole wide world. Why was she so hesitant to embrace it?

Glancing between Beast Boy’s hopeful grin, and his outstretched hand, she paused, for one moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, before she sighed, small smile coming into place. “…Sure.” With that, ignoring the fact that he had meant to shake her hand, she fist-bumped him. Top, bottom, smack dab in the middle. And then came time for her name. 'Terra,' the traitorous corner of her mind hissed, barely audible, the part that spoke up about how green was nice, orange and black weren't good together, and how sushi and ice cream were perfect combinations. 'Doesn't he keep calling you that?' But that wasn't her. “Gia, Gia Stevens.”

Hopefully, this rendition would go a lot better.

[Beast Boy]

Beast Boy perked up. She’d thought it was funny! Most of his antics, sure he did them to keep himself entertained, but they were never as much fun when no one around him appreciated them. And since his company was usually Robin (no sense of humor), Starfire (alien sense of humor), Raven (no sense of humor), or Cyborg (fun but only sometimes laughs at jokes), it was always refreshing to get positive reactions.

Used to adapting to quick-paced battles, Beast Boy went with the flow and followed her lead on the fist-bump, grinning at her. “Nice to meet you, Gia,” he said happily, focusing especially on the name so he wouldn’t accidentally say ‘Terra’. He was pretty sure he’d slip up sometimes, but he could at least get the ‘introduction’ right.

New beginnings, right? Treat her like a new person, he told himself, like someone you don’t know anything about. She apparently doesn’t think he knows her, anyway, he remembered with a stifled sigh. “So, uh, Gia,” he said, starting to walk again and swinging his arms exuberantly. “What do you like to do for fun?”

[Gia Stevens]

She grinned as he bumped her back, glad that he had gotten her name right, and wasn’t going to call her ‘Terra’ anymore. No, that wasn’t who she was, maybe once upon a time, but not now, so she was grateful for it.

Falling into step with him, and feeling more relaxed now that the other seemed to have moved past the whole ‘Terra’ business, she considered the question. “Mm… Anything that involves outside, honestly. The amusement park’s pretty sweet, too. Just hanging out with friends, ya know?” With that, Gia gave him a crooked smile, surprising herself with the fact that she was actually enjoying herself.

“What about you? Besides saving the city, of course.” Honestly, she was a bit curious. Considering that she was talking to one of the city’s Teen Titans, their superheroes, who could blame her?

Glancing at the stores, to see if any were there, Gia noted the one just a few doors down. “We’ll have to stop there, for yarn,” she told him, pointing the place out and unconsciously using the word ‘we’.

[Beast Boy]

The amusement park. That struck a chord with Beast Boy that he did his best to conceal, grinning back at her and not wanting to bring up the past so she’d shut down again. Especially not bring up their one ‘date’. “Maybe after we’re done with the errands, we could hang out at the amusement park?” he suggested, eager to get any excuse to spend more time with her. Maybe they could ease into talking about the past that way. Ease her back into her memories.

Beast Boy wasn’t going to give up on her. She deserved to remember how she hadn’t just saved the Teen Titans’ butts but the entire town! She was a hero and a great one. She should remember.

“Oh, that’s more like my job, y’know,” he stretched his arms over his head, then laced his fingers behind his neck, trying to look smooth. “For fun, well, there’s video games, of course, and pulling pranks. Raven doesn’t have a sense of humor to speak of, but she makes hilarious faces when she gets angry.” He laughed, tickled at remembering some of the things she’d done and her flat expression with the throbbing temple standing out on her pale skin.

“Oh!” That reminded him of the reason he’d run into her in the first place. “I actually came on my own errand, too. Mind stopping at the auto parts shop? Cyborg’s got some fancy oil,” he made faces and gestured elaborately, his body language even more sarcastic than his tone, “that he absolutely has to use for the T-car, and we’re all out.”

[Gia Stevens]

The question made her skip a beat in her steps, surprised, and she blinked at him with big blue eyes, hesitating for a moment. “…I’d have to check with the Stevenses, but I don’t see why not,” she told him, hoping that this wasn’t one of those ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’ type things. While it would be fun to go to the amusement park, especially considering that it really wasn’t Katie or Brittney’s fave, he was still kind of a stranger. Albeit a celebrity stranger that could possibly know her better than she knew herself, but a stranger nonetheless.

She couldn’t it help it, though, at his action, and snorted lightly. He wasn’t cool. He was… adorkable, for a lack of a better word, but not cool. For some reason, though, the image of the grey-skinned Titan furious easily came to mind, and Gia laughed, with the humor of someone that has actually seen such a thing. “I’ll bet! The less humor, the harder they fall.” Okay, so it wasn’t a faithful paraphrase of the quote in question. But it was still so true.

Grinning slightly at how he acted (honestly, he should be in a drama club or something), she nodded, relaxing. “Sure,” she told him, not seeing why another stop would make that much difference. “I think it’s just past the craft place.” Right between that and the pharmacy. Perfect.

But Gia noticed something, and it made her smile inwardly. T-Car, Teen Titans… She rather liked the letter ‘T’, in all honestly. It just… clicked.

[Beast Boy]

“Sweet!” The ‘having to ask’ part skipped right over him. Really, even if they ended up saying no, that would almost be okay. After all, she had said yes, so if she couldn’t hang out later today, then she’d probably say yes to another time when the Stevenses would agree! All right! Victory! Well, a small one, anyway.

“Yeah! You get it.” As he grinned at her, Beast Boy couldn’t help but wonder how she could fail to notice how well they got along together. Sure, maybe she didn’t remember, and didn’t want to be called by a name that she didn’t think was hers. Maybe him knowing things about her, telling her things that had happened to her that she didn’t remember, weirded her out. But seriously—they fit together perfectly! They had the same sense of humor, even, which was a rare thing indeed for Beast Boy to find. His new plan of action was sure to get him back into her good graces, at least as a friend. Once she trusted him again, maybe she would believe him when he said she was really Terra.

Good, now she would help him remember, and Cyborg wouldn’t get all angry and yell-y at him for forgetting the oil he’d been sent for. New question, let her talk about herself, let her watch him get to know her all over again. “So, I saw your school, but what’s your favorite subject? Guessing not geometry,” he added slyly, recalling what she’d said to him about not studying for her geometry test while he was trying to get her to talk to him the first time.

[Gia Stevens]

She returned his grin, enjoying herself. It was nice, honestly, to be around someone this carefree, which her friends, for all their awesomeness, were not.

However, his next question… Gia rolled her eyes, letting out a bit of a groan. “No, definitely not my favorite. I like Chemistry, science especially,” she told him, replying to his question. “I like rocks, and want to be a geologist, so science is the way to go.” She could be a nerd about it, to be truthful, if she was allowed to be. Her friends usually stopped her from getting out of hand, but…

“What about you?” Gia asked curiously, tipping her head slightly to the side as her blonde hair fell into her face. “Have you ever gone to school?” He could’ve been tutored or something, but with that skin, she doubted it. Likely, the only one of the Teen Titans that could’ve pretended to be normal was Robin, and maybe Raven. She could always pass for Gothic.

They approached the craft store, though, and she ghosted in the direction of the door, stepping inside and looking around. It was like a scrapbooker’s dream, honestly, or maybe an elementary art teacher’s. “Come on,” she told Beast Boy, heading in the direction of the yarn, which she remembered from having come with Mrs. Stevens. “It’s this way.”

[Beast Boy]

Beast Boy lit up when she said she liked rocks, and almost started talking about her powers again. She could move rocks, she’d spent her life dealing with the earth! Surely, that would be interesting to someone who acknowledged she liked geology? But no, he was going to do this properly, no mentions of who she was before she forgot everything, no mentions of her powers. This was about the person she thought she was now, about Gia.

“Very cool. I’m more of a biology guy, myself,” he said, grinning. “Or was that too obvious?” Even though he really didn’t know a whole lot about the science of biology, it didn’t really matter for his joke. Especially since it was sort of a parallel to his powers, since her school interest was definitely a parallel to hers, even if she didn’t remember them.

“Nah.” He shrugged. “Closest thing, I guess, was sort of a superhero school, with the Doom Patrol, before I found the Titans. And my parents did a little tutoring when I was little. But really,” he laughed a little, almost nervously, “this is pretty much all I’ve ever done.” He didn’t have any regrets about it, though, despite the huge problems he’d faced, how many times he’d nearly lost his friends, and actually losing some friends.... Like Terra. He might doubt himself sometimes, but when it came down to it, he knew he was making a difference and that was good enough.

He followed her, slightly behind as they entered the craft store. Beast Boy felt extremely out of place in stores like this. He almost felt like changing into a mouse and scurrying around where no one could see him. And then he saw the beads. “Oooh!” Scampering over, he picked up two huge, neon red beads and held them up to his eyes. “Look! I’m Cyborg! BOOYAH!”

[Gia Stevens]

For some reason, he seemed very excited about the fact that she wanted to be a geologist/liked rocks, and Gia considered quirking an eyebrow to inquire why exactly, when he revealed his love of biology. …Which could just be a joke, but, really, it was the only thing that made sense. “Never would’ve guessed,” she remarked with a grin, enjoying herself. It made sense, though, that a shapeshifter might have to know biology. Or would know biology because of his shapeshifting.

Gah, conundrum.

“Wouldn’t that make it hard if you ever wanted to like go to college?” she asked, forehead crinkling. She personally had thought about it much in plans, mostly because the majority of her plans consisted of finding out who she was because Beast Boy was mistaken, and trying to get past her issues. Not college. But she couldn’t imagine not even having the option to go to college… “Do you…” Gia hesitated, clutching her list a little tighter in her hand, before speaking up and finishing her question. “Do you like being a superhero?”

She just… couldn’t imagine it. It was such a vastly different life than what she led, something that would sound better in stories, comic books, or… dreams.

Erase that thought, erase it.

…That thought kind of cast a bit of a shadow over her, making her doubt what she thought she knew, wondering, for a brief moment before she shoved it away, that maybe he was telling the truth, maybe he was right… When the other didn’t something silly.

Thank goodness for distractions.

Gia laughed at that, making sure it was indoor levels, because she really didn’t want to get into trouble, but still laughed all the same. “I thought he only had one red eye,” she teased, plucking one of the beads out of his hand and holding it up to her own eye, sticking out her tongue at him with a grin. Everyone knew that he only had one mechanical eye! Right?

…Right. She must’ve seen him on TV or something.