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My festive effort this year. Have a great Christmas, everyone!
TITAN TOWER - 23rd of December
Beast Boy took a last look around the common room: it was certainly festive. Starfire was always enthusiastic but, this year, Raven hadn't been around to restrain her exuberance. Thus there wasn't a single square foot of wall space that wasn't festooned in one way or another. The tree sagged under the weight of its own decorations, so many Beast Boy could hardly see the green of the tree itself. Not for the first time, he found himself wondering what Raven had been up to that required so much time alone.
"What is she up to..." he muttered aloud, a comically suspicious glint in his eye. He had asked, of course, only for her to rebuff him, telling him he would find out sooner or later, just like the others. He shrugged, though his mind kept turning the problem over even as he walked back to his room, a few gifts left to place under the overburdened tree.
As he walked, he heard something down the corridor - voices. Next to Starfire's room was an open door, a door that led to her own bathroom, a gift from Robin after he stood her up once too often in favour of punching criminals. The door was open... he padded silently down the corridor and shifted to his kitten form: small and quiet. He glanced around the corner and discovered his ears had not deceived him - Starfire and Raven were sat in front of Starfire's enormous mirror. He wasn't sure if he trusted his eyes, though, because they insisted on seeing Raven doing Starfire's hair in an elaborate plait. Starfire giggled and chattered happily while Raven worked, here face still but her eyes warm. Was this what she had been planning, girl time with Starfire? He didn't know how long he had watched when Starfire suddenly shot into the air, her hair finished, and embraced her friend while thanking her profusely. Raven accepted her thanks and the hug without comment, for once allowing Starfire's affection to run its course. Beast Boy ducked out of sight when the girls said their farewells and Raven stepped toward the open door, Starfire examining her hair in her mirror.
Raven turned and walked away from Beast Boy, heading to Cyborg's door. She rapped sharply on it and it shortly opened. He greeted her effusively and she returned it politely. They spoke quietly, Beast Boy too far away to hear clearly. Whatever she said, Cyborg's face lit up with a bright grin just before he exited his room, grabbed Raven's arm and sprinted toward the elevator. His curiosity piqued, Beast Boy watched the numbers above the door sink to zero, then go down into negatives. The garage! He waited a few moments before calling the elevator back and following, cringing when it pinged his arrival. He shifted again to his kitten form and slunk along the concrete hallway, seeing light spilling from the garage's entrance. He pokes his head in and, had he been in his normal form, would have gasped aloud. He knew that Cyborg had been rambling on about some upgrade to the T-Car, something about a new, hi-tech power source. The problem being, to fit it, he needed several pairs of hands.
"Almost done, Rae!" Cyborg cried, still grinning. The job itself was fairly straightforward, as long as he had enough help, and Raven was definitely enough. In place of a team of helpers (Cyborg had tried unsuccessfully to recruit the other Titans to help. They had been happy at first but soon got bored of his over-protectiveness of his car stopping them from just getting on with it!), Raven levitated and manipulated all the necessary components from afar with her powers, leaving Cyborg to make a few vital connections before easing everything into place with her help. In short order, the job was done.
"Merry Christmas, Cyborg," Raven said. Cyborg aimed that smile at her again and hugged her to his side with one arm - as with Starfire, Raven allowed it. "And, if you'll excuse me, I have another visit to make right about... now."
Beast Boy jumped into a darkened corner and shifted to a spider, letting Raven walk past him and back to the elevator. Beast Boy scuttled forward and watched the numbers again: she was heading back up to the main floor. He checked Cyborg was still engrossed with his car and returned to his human form to summon the elevator again. He grumbled a little - he'd have to go looking for her. The elevator pinged again and a kitten darted along the corridor. He checked Raven's room. Nothing. He checked the common room. Nothing. He checked Robin's room. Nothing. He continued his search and finally heard her voice coming from... the gym?
"Bend your right leg a little more, you don't want any weight on your forward leg for this part," she said. She was with Robin... wait. She was teaching Robin! He had always made it clear he was interested in Raven's martial arts training, learned in Azarath, and she had always resisted, saying it required levitation to perform. Apparently, she'd decided a few forms could be done with feet on the ground and had also elected to teach them to Robin. His search had taken longer than he realised and Raven had changed into exercise gear: black yoga pants, a black sports bra covered with a grey, loose-fitting vest and a pair of white athletic shoes. Robin wore his costume pants and boots with a tight, white vest, his masked eyes watching Raven's demonstration closely. She repeated a basic exercise and he followed it, step by step as Raven gently moved his limbs into their correct positions. Beast Boy watched them for an hour as she showed and taught what she could. Robin was enthusiastic, ready to start the next form. Raven shrugged. "I'm afraid you'll have to learn to fly first." Robin visibly slumped, disappointed, though he recovered quickly, stretching his limbs.
"Thanks for finally showing me this, Raven. I know it's personal..." he said, quietly.
"It is. But you're my friend. Merry Christmas, Robin... and if you'll excuse me for now, I need a shower and I still have one more visit to make." Beast Boy's feline fur stood on end. Another visit could only mean him! As Raven started to walk toward the doorway, he sprinted back down the corridor to his own room, shifted to his human self, and slapped the door controls. He leapt in through the open door and planted himself heavily on his bed, waiting with baited breath. And so he waited. And waited. And waited some more. Then he glanced at his clock and realised only ten minutes had passed since he entered his room. With a groan, he flung himself back on his bed. How long would Raven take? She had gone to shower but he had no idea how long she might be. He stared at the upper bunk from below and let his mind wander. Invariably, as it often did these days, it wandered to Raven. She interested him. She mystified him. She was like a puzzle you can't leave alone until solved, and that was definitely why he was always thinking about her. Obviously. It wasn't like he... that he could... that he might-
*TAP TAP TAP*
Crap she was here! He almost vaulted from his bed to the floor before staring at himself in his mirror, forcing himself to appear calm. She was just here to spend time with him like the others. She might even play video games! That would be so awesome... He took another deep breath and opened the door...
"Haya, Rye! I mean... Hiya, Rae!" he said, already a mess. She regarded him with suspect eyes.
"Well... hello, Beast Boy. May I come in?" she said. Beast Boy's eyes widened - Raven never wanted to visit his room.
"Uh... sure," he said, glad that his recent Christmas shopping had forced him to tidy a little to make sense of it. Raven stepped past him and glanced around, distractedly.
"I have a gift for you, of a sort. Something I think you deserve. Something you really want," she said. "Please... sit." Beast Boy sat on the edge of his bed and Raven levitated, folding her legs under her. "Give me a few moments... isolating emotions from memory and keeping them from affecting my powers can be difficult."
"Um... huh?" Beast Boy replied. Raven's mouth curled into a gentle smirk.
"Just wait," she instructed, closing her eyes. Beast Boy did as she asked and absolutely did not stare at her the whole time (he did). Just as he was considering speaking again, something happened. He stared unabashedly now, his mouth open but smiling in sheer, joyful astonishment.
Raven was laughing!
Not a giggle or a guffaw but honest, wholesome laughter. It was quiet and her voice cracked a few times and she even snorted through her nose once but it was beautiful and so purely, unutterably perfect. He was enchanted. Those few moments seemed to last for days but, sure enough, Raven stopped laughing and looked back at him, her mask of indifference back in place, even if he could tell she was waiting for a reaction. He grinned and blinked as his eyes suddenly stung.
"That was great, Rae. Thanks. Thank you," he said, thickly. Raven nodded, her more typical, tiny smile showing.
"Merry Christmas, Beast Boy," she said as she landed and began to walk to the door. He followed, aimlessly, and so when she stopped suddenly, so did he. She turned and he stared again as she looked at him, her expression nervous and her cheeks touched with pink. "There was one more thing... if I'm brave enough."
"Brave enough?" he asked, even as he continued to stare. She nodded. Then, with no warning, she lurched forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and neck, pulling him into a fierce, almost painful embrace. He stood immobile for a moment before returning it. When his arms curled around her waist, her own grip grew even tighter and she pressed her face into his shoulder. He followed suit and held her just as firmly. Did this mean what he hoped it might mean? Raven raised her head and looked up into his eyes - he saw in them what she couldn't say.
"Do you understand?" she asked, hopeful that he did and terrified that he didn't. He nodded dumbly. She sighed, shakily, in relief, and returned her head to his shoulder.
"In case I wasn't clear, I-I like you too," he stammered. She squeezed him tighter for just a moment, just to let him know she heard him.
"It won't be easy," Raven whispered. "I'm getting better but it took days of meditation just to prepare to visit everyone tonight." Beast Boy feigned ignorance.
"You visited the others, too?" he asked, artificially surprised. Though he couldn't see, Raven rolled her eyes.
"Please. I knew you were there the whole time," she said.
"You did?" he asked, carefully.
"Mm-hm. Especially at the gym. Apparently, the sight of me in yoga pants lights your aura up like a Christmas tree," she said, amused. Beast Boy groaned at the revelation. Finally, and with obvious reluctance, Raven released him.
"Time to go?" he asked, morosely. Raven nodded.
"Yes. I need to center myself. Perhaps... we could spend some time together tomorrow?" she asked, suddenly shy. Feeling giddy, he grinned and bowed melodramatically.
"Raven, it would be my fondest wish."
The End.
Hope you enjoy and have a Merry Christmas. If you don't celebrate Christmas, I still hope you have a merry time and a great new year ^_^
-Jack