The world changes every day. People change too. They grow up. They leave their homes behind, only to create new homes somewhere else. In a world of monsters, magic and people with unnatural abilities, change is bound to happen. It is not something that can really be stopped.
Aurelia's bags are ready to be taken to San Francisco. That is where she is going to be now; it's going to be her new home. And no matter how attached she is to her childhood home, it's time to move on and move out. She's slightly breathless, but ready to go. She has to go early; Dick is already there and she and him are going to be the welcoming party for the others. (basically)
Her phone buzzes, but she knows it is Dick, so she doesn't even bother to check. He's been pestering her since morning to get there early. For some reason.
She takes a deep breath and grabs her backpack, tossing it over her shoulders. She releases the breath she's holding and grabs the bigger suitcase, walking towards the door. With a wave of her free hand, the door to her room opens. She walks out into the living room, fully and at the same time, not prepared to leave at all.
"So you really are leaving?"
Aurelia spins around, bags in hand, when she hears her aunt's voice. Clara is leaning on the door of her room, arms crossed. She's dressed normally but her expression holds a tight smile that almost reaches to her eyes. Almost.
"Guess I was really hoping you'd stay," Clara adds as she slowly walked up to Aurelia. "But maybe I was wrong."
Aurelia let out a sigh. "Clara, I don't think I would have. You know me. When I make up my mind, I usually go through with the decision."
"Yeah, I know," Clara replies, slightly rueful. "You're stubborn. Just like me and your mom."
"It's not like I'm going to be gone forever though. I will be teleporting to the city because of college, and we can always meet up on campus. There's a really cool coffee shop there, I think you'd like that."
"I know, your mom took me to that same place once."
"She did?"
"Yeah. She did."
"Cool. That's cool."
Aurelia feels incredibly awkward as a terse silence settles between the two; carrying out conversations longer than three sentences is harder for them now. Aurelia's decision to leave has potentially permanently fractured her bond with Clara. She just hopes that's not actually the case. They're family, after all. And they do love each other, so much.
Clara rolls her eyes and lets out an annoyed sigh. "Alright, this is getting a bit much. Come here, you."
Aurelia sets down the bag she was holding to the ground and walks over to her aunt. Clara hugs her, holding her as close as she can, even with the backpack obstructing her slightly. The hug almost feels strange; holding a sense of finality she doesn't yet understand. It is almost as if it's a signal of them growing apart and her growing up. After what seems to be an eternity (but in reality was two minutes at least), the two pull away, albeit reluctantly.
"You are going to be amazing, you know that. You are going to ace it," Clara says, voice kind and comforting. "Being a part of a team is always good and I am talking from experience."
"Thank you," Aurelia replies, voice soft. She suddenly feels overwhelmed and almost wants to cry, but she stops herself just in time. If she cried, then Clara would cry and she definitely does not want that to happen. It hurts her to see Clara like that. "You're the best, Auntie C."
"No, you are," Clara says, patting her shoulders. Her eyes swim with emotion and for a second Aurelia is worried that she might cry, but she doesn't. Instead, her aunt smiles wide, a proud look on her face. "You're amazing, Aurelia. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You're always welcome here. Anytime, you want. It's always going to be your home."
"I know," Aurelia smiles back. She reaches for her bag and holds it in her hand. Exchanging one last look with Clara, she smiles at her.
With a deep breath, she lets her magic build up inside her. As soon as she feel the immense power underneath her skin, bursting to be called out, she says a spell she has said many times before. "Open Door,"
Aurelia opens her eyes to see the golden light of the spell surrounding her. The last thing she sees before the spell pulls her away to the tower is Clara's smiling face. And then she knows; she knows that it would all be okay. Hopefully.
The tower is big.
That is Aurelia's first thought when she arrives at the building, right in front of the elevator. Once Dick buzzes her in and she steps inside the elevator, she immediately thinks it is opulent; extravagant almost. Typical Bruce Wayne-style place and nothing like what she is used too. She'll have to get used to all of this soon; the tower is their base, the base of their new team. It won't serve her well, being distracted by all this opulence.
Titans, they're calling themselves. The name was suggested by Dick and Donna and the others had easily accepted it. It is a cool name after all.
Aurelia looks up just as the elevator dings, signalling that she's arrived at her destination. She steps out of the elevator, her gaze wandering to the sleek grey walls that are immaculate and completely clean. The place looks more like a rich guy's penthouse than a place for a group of former sidekicks/superheroes to have their HQ.
"There you are."
Dick's voice immediately grabs her attention. He is standing in the middle of the living area, near a couple of sofas. Beyond that is an electrical fire (at least that is what it looks like) burning in the fireplace and right in front of the fire is another set of chairs. Like she said before, rich guy's house.
Then Aurelia turns back to Dick, realising that he is wearing a tight-fitting shirt. The shirt stretches across his defined muscles and she can't help but just stare at them. She bites her lip, her face incredibly warm all of a sudden.
"Were you just checking me out?" Dick's eyebrows are raised and at the same time he is also smirking, ready to tease her.
Aurelia drops both her bags to the floor, suddenly smirking herself. She steps closer to him, putting her arms around his shoulders. "Would you believe me if I said no?" She asks, her voice flirtatious.
"No. I wouldn't," Dick says, before he leans down and kisses her. Aurelia's hands move to his hair, pulling him closer. The same familiar, burning sensation is present as always and it only continues to grow as they deepen the kiss, just as they had done a hundred times before.
Aurelia pulls away for a second, only to catch her breath, before she goes to kiss him again. He lets out a little noise of surprise as she grips his curls a little too tight, pulling him even closer. His hands are on her face now, holding her in place as they continue to kiss, neither of them willing to pull away.
Finally, as breathless suddenly hits them both, they pull away. Dick presses his forehead against hers, staying in the moment.
"I love you," He mumbles, his warm breath tickling her nose. "God, I love you so much."
"I love you too, Dick Grayson. More than anything," Aurelia replies, voice low but full of affection.
They stand like that, enjoying the silence and completely taking in the moment. It's one of the best things in the world. Just them and not a single thing in the world. These little moments are the best and Aurelia loves them with all her heart. After a minute or two of more hugging, they pull away.
"So, show me around?" Aurelia asks, tilting her head sideways with a smile.
"Come on," Dick smiles back. He grabs one of her bags with one hand and she takes hold of the backpack, putting it on her shoulder. He takes her hand and they start walking towards a small hallway next to the kitchen. There are many rooms there, she notices. Much more than the five people that will soon reside in it.
"Nice place," Aurelia comments, staring at the sleek lamp designs. "Bruce really just gave it to you?"
"It's not like the League was actually using it. So it belongs to the Titans now," Dick replies. He stops in front of a door, pointing towards it. "This is my room."
He turns rightwards, pointing to the door just opposite. "And if you want, this could be yours."
"Oh, you want me to be right next to you?" Aurelia asks, smirking. She tends to do that a lot when she's around her boyfriend. "Nice. Nice."
"Shut up, you," Dick playfully shoves her with his shoulder before he opens the door to what is going to be her room. The first thing she notices about the room is that, just like every place in this building, it is massive. It is much bigger than her room at her home; at least two times that size. She sees another door at the corner, and presumes that must be the bathroom.
Aurelia whistles appreciatively. "This place is big enough that I can practice summoning the Phoenix without accidentally setting fire to something."
"Wait, what?" Dick looks at her with the strangest expression. "Please don't actually do that."
"I was joking, Dick."
"I have a feeling you were not. But seriously, let's not burn this place down before we've even started to use it."
"Fine," Aurelia says, almost rolling her eyes. It's not like she would actually end up burning the place. That only happens whenever she's with Clara. Not that it's her aunt's fault. It's just that Aurelia's magic happens to be a little fickle sometimes. Yeah, just sometimes. It's not like she'd almost burned down a couch or Clara's bed. Definitely not like that.
She takes off the backpack and dumps it on the floor, before she walks over to the bed. She immediately jumps on it, lying face-forward against the soft mattress. "Oh this is amazing," Aurelia lets out a contented sigh. "I already want to sleep."
"Well, don't," Dick says, keeping her other bag on the floor too. "We still have to be up to welcome the others."
"Tell me something," Aurelia says, turning her head so that she faces him. "Why exactly did we decide to be the welcome committee? Why couldn't we all just meet up somewhere and I could have teleported us all here?"
"Uh no thank you," Dick replies, making a face. "The last time you did that...it was not fun."
"It wasn't my fault that you threw up after that. You couldn't handle that."
"It was your fault. You grabbed me out of nowhere. You know that Wally and Roy were making fun of me for days after that, right?"
"You deserved that," Aurelia replies, laughing. "Your expression was so funny."
"You're getting yourself in trouble now," Dick says. Swiftly, he walks over to the bed and climbs on top of her, holding her arms down. Before she can react, he starts to tickle her. And if there's one thing Aurelia is, it is that she's very ticklish.
Dick lightly touches his fingers to her neck, knowing that she is ticklish there. Aurelia squirms and struggles to get out of his grip, but he refuses to let her escape, holding her down.
"D-Dick, stop!" Aurelia cries out of laughter. "It t-ti-tickles!"
Dick rolls his eyes. "I know it does." He doesn't stop though and instead relentlessly continues to poke her sides. Aurelia continues to laugh and cry and struggle, trying to slap his arms away.
"St-stop it!" Aurelia says, laughing so hard. "Dick, come-come on!"
"Sorry not my fault. If you don't want to be tickled, then you shouldn't have said that." Dick replies, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
"Well then I'm sorry! Just let me go, please," Aurelia pleads, still struggling to stop laughing or getting his arms away from her. He pauses and she is relieved; but without warning, he leans down and presses a kiss to her neck.
"Dick ahh-" She suddenly grips the back of his t-shirt tightly, as he continues to kiss her neck softly. Fuck, fuck, she thinks. Everytime he kisses her neck it burns, but in a good way. It's an incredible sensation that she doesn't want to stop so when it does, she lets out a mildly annoyed groan.
Dick pushes some of her hair behind her ear. "Later," He whispers,. "Not now."
Aurelia barely manages a nod as he gets off her and climbs off the bed. He holds out a hand and she takes it, standing up from the bed, biting her lip. She interlinks their arms and leans her head against his shoulder as they walk out of the room.
Back in the living room, they sit on the sofas, waiting, waiting and waiting for their friends to arrive. Aurelia impatiently taps her fingers against her knees, almost a little annoyed at them for being so late. But that's really not the point; she's just a little excited for things. They're all going to be a team now; a team of their own, almost all of them sidekicks, but now setting out to be heroes of their own. (She wished Roy and Wally would have joined them, but then those two were always out doing their own thing.) (And Garth was ready to join them, but he had his whole Atlantean responsibilities going on, for now. At least that was what he had said)
After what seems like an hour of waiting, the computer that Dick left on the kitchen counter buzzes loudly with a ringing noise. He gets up from the couch and Aurelia follows. The screen showcases Hank, Dawn and Donna's face, all waiting to be buzzed in. And that is what Dick does. He buzzes them into the tower, entering the security codes to allow them into the elevator.
Aurelia wrings her hands together as she waits, but this time, there's no impatience on her behalf. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...At seven, the elevator dings loudly and the doors slide open. Three figures walk out.
Hank grins widely. "Aww, you two were waiting for us. I'm flattered."
Aurelia rolls her eyes but grins back. "Oh, shut up, Hank."
She hugs Dawn, then Donna and fist bumps Hank. The five of them stand in the middle of the living room area, all grinning at each other, knowing it's happening now.
The Titans are here and assembled. Finally.
IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING!! TITANS ARE HEREEE!!
I am honestly so excited for this moment now because I've been itching to write this for a while and now it's finally happening. Also, I loved writing Dick and Aurelia being all cute (and horny lol). Part one is also going to come to an end pretty damn soon and I'm really excited to finally write Aurelia into S1 of Titans. It's gonna be funn!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
(thank you captainsdanvers for this amazing new signoff!!)