The was an announcement at the table, as those around it attempted to subtly shift their 'food' off their plates, from Kori.

She- having finished her...odd Tamaranian dish- related to the others, "I've received a message from Superman- it came through this afternoon,"

Garfield spat a mouthful of whatever-the-heck-Kori-thought-was-edible  in to a napkin.

"We will be having a new potential member joining us tomorrow."

That turned the tables a little. Kori had their rapt attention. The only one who hadn't shown any signs of shock was Dick: evidently Koriand'r had told him about it beforehand.

"Another one?", Jaime raised his eyebrows. "Guess there's a lot of kids like us out there huh?"

"I don't think there's anyone out their like each of us- individuals is what we are. Different and young, that's what we have in common.", Raven said, proceeding to wash down the repulsive taste with orange juice. She wrinkled her nose- that was an unholy aftertaste.

Garfield raised his glass of juice in an 'amen to that!' gesture.

"It's another newbie in the least, " Donna shrugged, "guess I'll have company."

Garfield wrapped an arm around her and lay his head on her shoulder, "Naw dude, you're totally one of us. We're besties, right?"

"Suuure..."

Such trivialities didn't touch Damian's mind, he was is a miniature panicky situation. There was a in depth research to be done: he wouldn't be sleeping tonight; as if he ever really did. A more important matter than 'friends' was at the forefront of his mind, "Who is it?"

"Superboy.", Dick answered for Kori. "I reckon you'll recognise him from the news, media whatever."

There was a moment, a golden moment, of silence.

"What the fuck?"

Damian put it nicely. He ignored the chastising of his language and continued, "TT. That joker? You can't be serious!"

Superboy- later to be known to them as Connor, or Kon- was a media sensation: the heartthrob teen sensation- as far as your average adolescent female was concerned. Flaunting his powers, he'd made quite the spectacle of himself (and had been of little use to the Titans when the Justice League were away and they were tasked with helping maintain order and peace: as they saw it, not yet understanding entirely the role that Lex Luthor had to play in the matter).

Kori ignored the outbursts and addressed the Titans more firmly, "I expect you all to be welcoming- he could be an asset to this team.", she made a pointed look at Damian. "All of you."

True to her word, the next morning Kori summoned the Titans to the front of the Tower to welcome the new arrival. Damian saw a dark splotch approaching in the sky. Narrowing his eyes to reduce the annoyance of the glinting sun, Damian focused on the increasingly larger shape until it divided in two two masses. They landed in front of the Titans (minus Dick, who'd left for Gotham the night before- family business-). Just as Donna had been accompanied by Wonderwoman, Kon was accompanied by Superman. As ever, Clark's countenance was welcoming as he warmly greeted the Titans: Superboy at his side.

Where Wondergirl had been a touch tentative at first (before warming up to the team), Superboy was eagerly observing the teens- lingering on Koriand'r, Donna and Raven. He would not be finding a fawning fan in either three- much to his dismay. The cocky teen donned a jacket and leather gloves, bulky boots and circular, tinted glasses that he lowered to look at the assembled forces before him. He wore that rugged look like he was born for it, and a cocksure grin painted his character to them.

Clark handed Connor over to the Titans to introduce himself, disappearing out of sight in an instant- churning the humid air.

The tinted glasses came off and Superboy ran a hand casually through his hair. "Sup?"

Damian decided to hate him.

***

Halfway through the day, Damian pulled Raven (his confidante) to one side while Kori tested Connor's abilities. His eyes were imploring, "You'll need to hold me back. I will take out the kryptonite."

Around the corner from the others -in the training room- Raven stifled a laugh. She half-heartedly scorned, "Damian! You can't do that." Of course he could- and would...almost definitely...

"If he winks one more time..."

"I know, I know- you'll end him." Raven rolled her eyes. "Perhaps don't judge him just yet. I sense more to his soul- something deeper-", she reassured, "I'll take a minute to look in to that. Fair?"

Damian drummed his fingers on the wall he stood against. "I suppose." A new through came to mind, "I'll ask father about him, no doubt his records are much deeper than the ones I accessed last night."

A task set in mind, the two rejoined society, at which point Kori offered got  them to find a partner to do some sparring practise. After informing Starfire that he had to contact his father, Damian abandoned Raven to Kori's devices.

Noticing that the only available person to pair up with was Gar, Raven politely declined the offer. Not bothering with the lengthy trek out of the Tower, Raven opened a portal with ease to the golden strip of land nearby, fringed with still blue water. The beach was -as ever- unoccupied. Thus, it was the perfect place for a moment of self- reflection and meditation.

Levitating, enshrouded in a purple glow, Raven closed her eyes and crossed her legs. She cleared her mind, focusing all her attention on the whispers of the folding, lapping waves and the brushing of the evergreens' leaves and the slight hissing of her regular breaths...and slowly but surely, the steady thumping of her heart was open to her ears.

Raven let the barrier between her mind and Trigon's fall.

RAVEN. INSOLENT CHILD! I WILL TEAR THE EARTH APART! YOU CAN'T-

No change there.

Raven slammed the walls back up, and her father was cut short.

With all that they'd been through, all she'd been through, after trapping Trigon, she never could quite escape him. It didn't help that Trigon was mentally linked to her- to an extent. But his presence still weighed heavily on her soul. The burden had gotten easier to bear, and would no doubt decrease over the years.

Trapping your demon-lord father in a magic crystal from hell?- just another right of passage, no?
As normal as leaving an assassin's guild at age ten to live with your vigilante Bat-father to fight crime.

A.N:

Hello my dears,

So that was a tiny bit shitty, but I have an excuse. Thursday at 10pm in to Friday at 7 am ish the results for the UK general elections. I was up watching the results for the entire time and I've just been thoroughly emotionally knocked out.

My fait in humanity was thin enough, I think I've just lost it all. Tell me how regions that would massively benefit from populist policies and NEED the EU's economic contributions to the UK decided to vote FOR THE Conservatives! It's absurd! Labour strongholds that don't like the Tories voted for them ONLY bcs of Brexit are going to be hit so badly! I just- I- I'm fucking done right now!

Sorry- that's my rant over. I just need to get it out!
This has probably just been the worst Bday ever- and a conformation that my birth was a curse of this earth.

-Bats 😑