He was like the summer, everything about him reminded her of the warm season. His smile was like the sun shining down on the rest of Jump City. He always seemed to be in a joyous mood, his mouth alternating between smiles and laughter for most of the day. His body emitted warmth and he smelled of forests and the ocean that surrounded their tower all at the same time.
She didn't know why these thoughts were coming to mind now as she laid in bed, the day already late as she'd slept in. Raven sat up and took a look around her darkened room. She usually kept her curtains shut, but today she was in a strange mood and with a quick flick of her wrist she pulled them apart to let the sun in. She could now see a lot better, though it was still dark due to the fact that the sun rose on the other side of the tower. She sighed heavily as she pulled the warm covers aside and got up from the comfort of her bed to start her day.
The plum haired girl took another look around and noticed the numerous books splayed about from her research the night before. Using obsidian energy she picked them up and easily set them back in their designated spots on her shelves. There wasn't anything else out of place so she stepped into the bathroom attached to her bedroom and the door slid shut behind her. Raven switched the light on, actually using her hands to do so, and turned the knobs on the shower until satisfied with the temperature of the water. She removed the long shirt she wore to bed with ease and stepped under the steaming water. A content sigh left her lips as she scrubbed away at her skin with her lavender scented body wash and shampooed her hair, only using a bit of conditioner for a bit of softness after.
When she stepped out she used her powers to wrap a towel around her, almost feeling lazy enough to not use her legs and levitate back into her room. She decided against it though and walked all the way to the sink and pulled out a hair dryer.
A few years ago she would never have owned one, but in the time that passed her hair had grown until it reached just below her waist. Raven would've cut it sooner, but she felt like she always had more important things to do. She looked directly into her reflection while turning the dryer on and waited until her hair wasn't damp anymore.
Raven then moved on to her closet and grabbed a dark blue leotard like she did on most days and slipped into it before willing her belt to hang across her hips and clipped her cloak on. Without looking at her reflection a second time that day, she stepped out of her room and made her way down the lengthy hallway.
Before the door to the common room hissed open she could smell bacon and sausages sizzling against a hot pan. Cyborg stood in the kitchen making breakfast for a yawning Starfire, who managed to still look more put together than Raven did, most likely not even having spent half an hour on her appearance, and Robin who'd made himself a cup of coffee. A sinking feeling filled her core, the same feeling she got everyday that passed and Beast Boy was not there to joke around and make scrambled tofu. Even though he left over a year ago now, Raven could still feel his absence and knew for a fact that the rest of the team felt the same way. Especially the half man half robot who stood in front of the stove, his best friend.
"Good morning friend Raven", the Tamaranean greeted cheerily, "You seemed to have done the sleeping of in. Were you kept up by your research?"
Raven said a quick hello in reply, nodding while heading past the island Star and Robin were sitting at and into the kitchen. She opened the cupboards in search of her kettle and got started on boiling water before contemplating what tea she'd be having that morning. The demi-demon was pouring the boiled water into a cup already when an alarm blared and Cyborg groaned loudly, having served the food already.
"Honestly, why couldn't they have waited until after we ate", he said, muttering a few other things under his breath.
Raven sighed, slightly annoyed that she wouldn't be able to drink her tea and would most likely have to make herself another cup when they got back from the mission. Cyborg looked at the screen embedded in his robotic arm to get some information on the who and the where. As soon as he got a location we were all heading out, Robin and Cy taking the T-car while Star and Raven took to the skies.
When they got there, Killer Moth was unleashing his mutated insects on the civilians who were running and screaming as they swatted them away and looked for shelter. Starfire and her immediately went to aid them and started fighting the insects off. Starfire took them out with her starbolts, blazing green orbs of energy. Raven worked on shielding the people in Star's line of fire, to make sure no one got hit, until they found shelter. When the boys arrived they'd taken care of the majority of the flying creatures already and they went off to face Killer Moth himself.
"You fools", he gloated, "Did you honestly think it'd be that easy!"
Then another wave of insects came through, only slightly larger than what Star and Raven had just dealt with. Luckily neither of them had gotten injured too badly earlier in the battle, just a few scratches here and there. As Robin and Cyborg fought against Killer Moth, throwing punches and firing beams of blue his way, Raven and Star worked to eliminate the mutated creatures.
All of the civilians had made it into some form of a shelter so Raven no longer had to worry about them, but she had used a lot of her energy to protect them already. It wasn't until the battle was ending that the exhaustion had started to settle in that Raven felt herself faltering a bit. She kept going at it though, crushing the vile creatures against one another, against buildings, and the concrete of the street below them.
By the time they were close to finishing them off Raven was out of it and hadn't noticed when some of the insects started closing in on her. Raven turned and saw yet another wave of insects coming their way and for a second she was annoyed at how tired she was feeling so early in the fight. It must have had something to do with the lack of sleep she had the night before. She threw off a wave of obsidian energy and singed the things surrounding her and readied herself for another round. As soon as they were in her line of fire she started firing orbs of energy their way alongside the red haired alien next to her.
They weren't even halfway done when Raven started seeing dark spots in her vision.
No, she thought to herself desperately. Not now, not when there are still so many left.
She was already falling and everyone was too busy fighting to notice right away. It wasn't until she was halfway through to colliding with the street that Cyborg turned enough to see what was happening with the girls and yelled out her name. It was too late though, none of them would reach her in time and she just accepted that thought as she continued to fall. Seconds passed and she felt as though she would crash any moment now, her eyes starting to close. A sigh left her lips and she readied herself to meet a rough landing.
Then, unexpectedly, something- no someone, caught her in their arms and all she saw was a blur of red, white, and a lot of green. Feeling shocked, Raven opened her eyes to see who had caught her and she was even more shocked to see who was holding her to their strong chest.
Beast Boy.
Her breath caught in her throat and she contemplated whether he was really there or if he was a vivid hallucination. If she'd hit the ground already and none of it was real.
"No worries Rae, I got this. You just rest up." He said and walked her over to the pavement, laying her down gently before taking off to aid Starfire in battle.
Beast Boy flew into the city just before the other Titans had taken off, not finding them in the tower, and figured they'd be out on a mission. He could've waited, but something felt off and he knew, he just knew that he was needed. His theory was proven right when he saw Raven free falling towards the street and felt his heart nearly jump out of his throat. He willed his wings to push him forward and hoped he'd get to her in time. He was further motivated at hearing Cyborg's desperate cry at seeing Raven falling and no way of anyone else getting to her in time.
Beast Boy transformed back into his normal form as he held his arms out and caught her easily before landing on his two feet. He sighed in relief and spoke a few soothing words, holding her close to his chest while hoping the red tint on his cheeks was not noticeable. He almost couldn't process that he was holding her in his arms like he'd wanted to many times before. It was also hard to believe that she wasn't tossing him into the nearest building for touching her. Then again she was slowly going out of consciousness, otherwise he'd probably be laying on a pile of rubble by now.
He looked for a safe area to lay her to rest, but there weren't many options nearby. Beast Boy thought the safest place for her to be right now was in his arms, but he also needed to help his other teammates. So he walked over to a fairly out of the way area on the sidewalk and laid her there gently before taking off. He transformed into a cheetah, running quickly as he attacked the insects swarming the area.
He heard some shouts of surprise come from his friends as they took notice of who had arrived to the party. If he were in his human form he would've grinned and said something in return, but at the moment he was in an animal form and was focused on the mutated creatures in front of him. With his help and his teammate's hard work, the army of bugs was defeated and their leader was being cuffed.
Beast's friends made their way towards him, but he was already walking away, finding Raven and picking her unconscious form up. His friends looked at him in surprise. Whether it was because of how different he looked or how he was holding the mistress of shadows in his arms, he didn't know.
Before any of them could get a word in Beast Boy spoke up, "We need to get her home to rest."
Later that day when Raven awoke after a few hours she was confused as to why she could feel someone else's presence in the room and why the room she was in was the infirmary. She sat up slowly and saw that it was Beast Boy, her thoughts filled with questions. He stood up from the chair set up next to her bed when he noticed she'd awoken and rubbed at the back of his neck. She could feel his nervousness radiating off of him, probably thinking that she was seconds away from tossing him into the bay. Raven surprised even herself when she didn't do so in the first place.
"Raven you're up", he said with a grin on his face, but she could feel that he was still nervous and felt some slight surprise coming from him. "The others are in the common room. Cyborg checked your vitals earlier and said all you needed was some rest. I figured there should be someone here when you wake up."
"I guess so", she replied groggily, looking around and noticing that no one else was in her room, just Beast Boy, and then she surprised them both again, "Thanks for saving me from that fall."
It was still hard for her to acknowledge her failures, like not having enough energy, but he had saved her and she was grateful. He looked at her, not even trying to hide the shock on his face, "I've always had your back during a fight Rae, you know that."
"Yeah I know you have Beast Boy, I just wasn't expecting it since you left", Raven said it as though it were a fact, but soon wanted to apologize after feeling the guilt coming off of him.
"You know you can call me by my real name now Raven- not that you have to, just a suggestion", he said, putting his hands up defensively.
She only nodded in response and took the opportunity to look him over. Beast Bo- Garfield, had grown into himself in the past year. He definitely wasn't as muscular as Cyborg or Robin, but his muscles had gotten much more toned and defined in just a year and he seemed to grow a lot more too. His cheeks weren't round anymore, they'd taken a more angular shape and his jaw looked as though it could easily cut glass. His uniform did his new body justice, clinging to him and accentuating every muscle.
The only things about him that didn't change were his smile and canine that stuck out, his easy going personality was still there even if he'd matured a bit, and every other irritatingly endearing quality that made him who he was. Maybe he'd started maturing over the years when he had still lived here and she just never noticed until he was gone.
Raven shook her head, questioning herself as to why she was thinking such things, but it was only normal. At least she figured it was since it'd been so long since she last saw the changeling.
Gar had also been shamelessly checking Raven out even though most of her was covered by a blanket. He could still see how much her body had matured over just one year. Her curves had grown out a bit more and maybe she grew a tiny bit in height, if she grew an inch or two it was hard to tell since he'd grown another foot. Her hair had gotten a lot longer and he actually liked it a lot. As a person, she definitely had changed a bit, seeming a bit more comfortable in her own skin, but still held the usual sense of seriousness she always carried with her.
When too much time passed Raven cleared her throat and a blush crept onto Beast Boy's cheeks, wondering if she'd caught him staring. When Raven didn't speak up he decided to initiate the conversation, "Uh, so why so tired Rae? Usually you're the one kicking butt and on top of everything. Robin filled me in on what happened before I arrived so I know there was a lot to deal with. But you're one of the toughest people I know and you blacking out like that isn't like you."
Now Raven was the one blushing and feeling embarrassed. She thought for a moment, contemplating whether she should lie and pretend everything was alright or tell him the truth. Before she made up her mind her mouth was already choosing for her, speaking in her usual monotone, "I was just doing some research like I have been for the past week and last night I actually managed to make a breakthrough. That's all."
Lies. She's been having trouble sleeping for much longer. She didn't know why, though.
Beast wasn't at all surprised that she'd been up all night doing research, but he still felt as though there were more, "Oh, I'm sorry Raven. I'll just go and let everyone know you're okay and that you're gonna be resting for a while."
A small smile appeared on her lips whether she wanted to or not and she thanked him. When he stood from his chair she felt the warmth of his body leave and suddenly felt cold, not having noticed in the first place that it was his warmth she'd been feeling.
He started walking away and before the door slid shut behind him he caught a glimpse of Raven getting comfortable in the infirmary bed. He felt a little relieved after talking to Raven about why everything that happened, did. Still feeling a sense of unease, though.
Gar walked into the common room and three pairs of eyes turned to look at him. If he could've turned bright red he would've, feeling embarrassed for some reason even though all he was doing was checking up on a friend. A teammate of his.
"Look he's smiling", Cyborg said, mock surprise in his tone, "and dry."
"Did she tell you anything? Is she alright?" Robin asked, getting straight to the point.
"Yeah she was just pretty drained is all", he replied, not wanting to go into too much detail since most of the conversation consisted of him gawking at her.
It was strange, Raven would never have even talked to him about the book she was reading that day a year ago from now, not that he ever asked. So for her to trust him enough to even talk to him about her research, whatever it was, made him feel a sense of pride. Now that he was back, it seemed as though things with Raven had changed for the better, even if it was only a slight change.
We'll see about that, a deep voice in the back of his consciousness growled.
Later that day when Raven woke up she felt re-energized as she stretched. The talk with Beast Boy had left her feeling calm and the nap well rested. She got up and took a peek outside, it was still pretty early in the day. When she thought of what she could do her stomach growled and she knew that she should probably grab something to eat. Before exiting her room she grabbed the book she'd started last night before her research took priority and made her way down the hall.
When she walked into the common room Beast and Cyborg were sat in front of the big screen and were playing a video game. Raven went into the kitchen and started brewing some tea to make up for the cup she didn't get to take a single sip of earlier that day. She looked into the fridge for something to eat and managed to find some berries all the way in the back. Not that the fridge was overflowing with food in the first place.
Maybe I can go grocery shopping tomorrow, Raven thought to herself.
"Raven come play a round with us", Cyborg hollered over the sound of the video games, "Beast Boy sucks even more than he did before!"
"No I don't," The green shapeshifter yelled over Cy's laughter.
Raven shook her head at the two, "I'll sit next to you while I read, but I am not playing any kind of video game with either of you."
"That's more than we expected actually so we're cool with that", Cyborg stated as he crashed his car into a wall and muttered, "Damn it."
Raven engulfed her fruit and tea into a ball of dark energy and dragged it behind herself. She set both things onto the coffee table, which already had a ton of junk food splayed about, before making herself comfortable.
He's not been back for even a day and it's like he never left, Raven thought to herself.
Some time passed by, them arguing over the game while Raven tried reading and eating her snack, before they put a movie on and quieted down. A peaceful silence settled in, only the sounds of crunching popcorn and the movie could be heard. Raven settled into the couch and sighed as she turned the last page of her book. When she finished the book she got up to wash her dishes before making her way towards the sliding doors. She stopped, though, when a voice spoke up.
"Hey Raven", Beast Boy called out, "Why don't you stick around for the rest of the movie?"
"I don't even know what's going on in the movie", she said, but still made her way over to the couch for some reason.
"No worries, I'll fill you in on what's been happening so far", a quick nod of agreement and a green hand wrapping around her wrist to pull her down next to him and Garfield was whispering to her, "Okay so it starts off with this kid getting kidnapped by aliens..."