So here I am again, with another BB and Rae story that I just can't stop thinking about and also this fic is mainly gonna focus just on the base friendship and slight "romantic" journey of both characters, so yes, this will be a slow burn or at least it won't be an obvious "Oh my God, I'm now just realizing how much I love you" fic. Just how I like it. As you read from the summary this will be episodic and aimless. By episodic I mean Cowboy Bebop level episodic, where each chapter will progress from the last but where there will not be a definite time frame to go by. And by aimless it's exactly that, this is all a whim of me thinking while writing and that's kinda always been my way since I can remember, many would possibly disagree with this method but mine is madness and ordered chaos. Cool? Same page? Perfect. See, already we're learning from each other. Give and take compadres y comadres, that's what my wife and I are still learning, fun fact. Okay, enough about my budding and scary personal relationships and let's get to the gritty of things. Enjoy.

*Disclaimer*

All rights to characters belong solely to DC comics and Warner Bros... (I ain't tryin' to get sued.)

Silence...

The type that some would wallow negatively because the absence of any noise would drive them up the wall, while another would relish the atmosphere especially when indulging in a recreational activity as in, for example, reading. In this specific scenario, two of our favorite Titans found themselves within the spectrum of unequivocal boredom to blissful soundless peace and if you were to pay a smidge of attention to both occupants, anyone could tell which fell in either category.

A lone emerald pigmented hand tousled through forest green locks on the umpteenth time with an accompanying exasperated groan of displeasure, the individual with the sickly toned skin unceremoniously laid himself on the armrest of the couch which sat in the middle of the giant space dubbed the common room, with his lower half splayed out on the cushions and his upper half bent over the armrest with his head a few inches from the floor, the Titan formally known as Beast Boy now Changling was in an impasse.

Not only has the young man spent the majority of his morning and early afternoon catching up on his previously recorded tv shows, finally beating the elusive and challenging final boss from his recent purchase of a video game; which he would whole heartedly gloat to his best pal Cyborg since said tin man hasn't accomplished that feat just yet, and also caught up to his favorite comi- graphic novel Cowboy Jam, Changling found himself with the grueling task of coming up with another activity to occupy his important time.

See, in these dire times when one finds themselves in a "stasis", a word he just discovered a few weeks ago, of inopportune free time they weigh the pros and cons of their next adventure… so far, our friendly neighborhood green man was running out of ideas, well more along the lines of not thinking of anything at all and just complaining and abusing that power of annoyance he held so firmly when questioning the only other person that was frequenting the space with him.

The young sorceress known as Raven, many have been awed and also cautious when they have the privilege to see her in all her mysterious wonder when apprehending criminals or just taking a rare leisure stroll to her favorite outings. Raven to most would say she's not a very approachable being even using the epithets of creepy and intimidating, but the ones closest to her will say she's loyal, a great listener, stoically sarcastic, a calm level headed analyzer, and patient to a fault. The young ashen pigmented woman loves her team unconditionally each one on different occasions have saved her life more than once and vice versa, and each one at different moments have either jumped, skipped, or ran through the mental walls she's constructed to not hurt the people around her, courtesy of her powers.

With 10 years now being a Titan and living in the giant T in the middle of the ocean residing in their city, Jump city, the young amethyst eyed sorceress will always be there for her team. But Changling was making it very hard not to throttle him as he once again moaned that there was nothing to do. Again, Raven loved her team… just some more than others especially in this instance, so with a slow and steady sigh with lithe fingers pinching the bridge of her nose and her other hand sitting the book she was thoroughly enjoying down on her bare lap, the empath readied herself and took to the task of questioning the most insufferable person she's ever met in her 25 years of existence.

"Do you get some kind of sick cathartic pleasure in annoying me?" Soft spoken but strangely holding a gravelly tone that trademarked the embodiment of Raven, the shifter's long elf like ears perked at the owner of that distinguishable voice.

Not able to see her face or attempt to sit up he continued to lounge over the armrest while lazily speaking up, "Oh, Rae, is that you?" Completely ignoring her question a slow grin creeped along his lips knowingly as he turned his head to the left where his attention was held earlier throughout the morning.

Another sigh escaped her lips as she refused to look his way. "Cute," her left brow twitched in his feigned oblivious response reigning in her frustration willing herself to not be sucked into his childish games. "I've been sitting here for the past hour and within that hour you've been moaning about something that could easily be fixed." She crossed one leg over the other while defiantly keeping her gaze in front of her not allowing the shifter the complete satisfaction in garnering her attention, but that backfired since the tv was in her line of sight and with the contraption currently off the reflection, like a black mirror, showed both occupants residing on the couch and that grin he was sporting was visible. Annoyance creeped up again because for some reason she had an inkling of suspicion that the tall imp planned this out and won this little game of finally gaining her undivided attention. She cursed under her breathe as they made eye contact and the grin grew wider. Her fate was sealed.

Still holding to his ignorance of her speaking he continued the act while holding his posture. "Rae! That is you! How the hell are you?!" He paused in false rumination as one of his index fingers taped against his chin and his eyes held her reluctant gaze. "It's been what, years since we've seen each other? How are the kids?" He was a riot, he knew and she knew, if only she could appreciate how much work he put into his comedy. Uh oh…

His only reply was a deadpan glare, the break of eye contact and her uncrossing her legs, lifting up her tome she called a book to cover her face returning to her reading. Childish fool…

He sucked at his teeth as she resumed her earlier actions and was a little peeved that it took longer than 30 minutes to finally get her attention just to have her crawl back into her mode of ignore-everyone-around-me-while-I-read-my-boring-books. The green jokester knew throughout his career being a Titan that he could be quite annoying, hell, even he sits back occasionally and thinks of his past where one-sided pranks between his comrades was a norm and even having his best friend Cyborg collaborate here and there.

So, with physical growth eventually maturity should follow suit and it did with the animal lover… though, death threats from some of his adored teammates, being thrown out the giant T more times than he could count on his fingers, and even being teleported miles away from his headquarters/home he found that to be a huge incentive to start growing up a bit and slowing down before those threats really ended up having his own foot up his ass. That exact threat from Starfire in her alien language but translated in English still made him shudder. With growth people change but in this moment our resident annoyance threw that out the window, so…

"Raaaeeee…"

Her name being whiny and drawn out pierced her ears but she was steadfast in ignoring him teeth grinding not giving him the satisfaction in yelling at him. She should've seen this coming, if all else fails and Changling cannot grasp your attention he reverted to a 5 year old child. I'm going to kill him… slowly. Then hide his body in another dimension. Once again she neglected reading the words in front of her choosing instead to focus on graphic images of torturing her insufferable friend. Slow breathes. An image of cold ashen hands squeezing her green "friend's" throat flashed in her mind's eye and a ghost of a smile graced her pout lips.

"Look we're both bored." Clearly ignoring the book that she's been firmly holding in her grasp for the past hour, Changling finally sat up straight and faced his body towards his latest victim. "How about we got out in the city or something? You, me, and a nice stroll through the park, huuuh?" He finished with eyebrows waggling suggestively.

"One of us is hugely mistaken on the definition of bored…" Words escaped clenched teeth ignoring whatever feigned attempt to "woo" her.

Exasperating loudly again, I'm going to crush his lungs, the man beast sank deeper in his seat. "Rae come on, I've been leaving you alone for like, the whole morning." Now smirking. "I feel like you owe me an award or something."

Furrowing her brow and finally looking into the face of her teammate and not his reflection. "And now it seems like you have me confused with someone else."

"Rae-e-e-e-e-e!" Once again, her name was drawn out but this time each letter was enunciated with each hop he took brining himself closer to the violet haired sorceress. With just a few inches between them Changling stopped and looked to her pleading with hands clenched together. "I swear, if you just go out with me for a couple hours I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day!"

Leaning away from him the young woman barely considered his words and thought more on the fact that Changling was the only one that still disregarded her feelings on personal space. Before, a possible light fixture would've met its demise but now with better control of her emotions and the threat of daddy dearest not rearing his ugly horned head, these moments of invasion were just an annoyance and not life threatening… unfortunately. With a slow inhale of breathe and a mantra that helped with centering herself, the young woman slowly looked to her comrade.

"Changling, contrary to popular belief I would be the last person needing to be accompanied with to have a good time," While keeping eye contact she slowly raised the book she was desperately trying to get back to. "I'm fine here, with all the entertainment I need." Years of mastering her penetrating gaze was fixated on the verdant eyes adjacent to her, hoping out of all things holy maybe even a bit demonic that the man will leave her be and finally catch a hint.

"Hmmm… Okay, okay, I hear you. Books," he made a motion with his fingers gesturing between his eyes and her, "creepy gaze, and all that jazz. But hear me out, Rae, its Summer time, hot weather, carnivals, beaches, hot girls, and hot guys," he made another suggestive gesture with his eyebrows. "There's plenty for us to do that even you can find something that'll seem worthwhile."

Deadpan. A face void of any emotion was his only response and then what followed was the short enchantress getting up from her seat and beginning her journey away from the man that she clearly had enough of, with just a few steps he was hot on her heels not skipping a beat as if he had the foresight to know her escape plan. Not much of a plan when it only consisted of her visibly walking away though… she should've thought that out a little clearer.

"Okay, okay, okay," the height difference was very obvious between both heroes on the couch, now with them standing and walking it was even more apparent, and as Changling had the longer legs the strides taken to catch up to his fellow Titan was no challenge, so with a quicker pace he now stood in front of his beacon of joy to annoy. The empath halted with the human barrier now blocking her path to freedom with his palms up and a foot of separation between them, her trademark glare was now present as were her arms crossed right below her chest.

Keep those eyes up Gar, my boy.

Quickly abandoning those betrayal of thoughts, Changling knew the steps to attempt the diffusing of the bomb called "Raven's Rage" and right now he was at give or take at level 3 if her arms crossed were any indication. Eyes up! It was time to barter. "I have a proposition," Glare now added with brow raised combo. She's listening. Step 1, completed. "If you come with me to the carnival by the pier for just a few hours, I promise you I'll make it worth your time."

His hands slowly lowered now that he has her full attention. It was funny, as secretive and reclusive she could be, he noticed throughout the years that Raven could also be quite curious and attentive of the things around her. There were times when Cyborg and him would play their games and Raven just a few feet away from them would occasionally lift her head up at the screen for a few seconds then continue reading her book, or when debates of random topics would fling around the common room between the other Titans and random logical words would escape her to add her own two cents, though her attention was mostly held on whatever book of the day she was fixated on. Raven, ever the analysis and multitasker, and now with all the attention solely on him, which he reveled in, Changling was ready to trudge through the landmine.

"So, like I said before, if you head out with me into the world of the living I promise you I'll leave you alone for not just today but for the whole week." Nothing escaped her poker face, it still unnerving how easy it was for her to mask her face with such indifference but that will not deter him, she still stood there so her curiosity is still piqued. Time to reel her in, he thought. "An added bonus…" His words hung there, waiting for any reaction that could escape that stonewalled look… and continued the pause, searching…

Seconds continued to pass and still no follow up words. Having enough of his theatrical performance, Raven attempted to walk pass the insufferable man child only to be halted once again with exaggerated limbs failing around this time to stop her from leaving. "Alright, Alright!" He screeched desperately. She stopped her attempt and with an amused smirk she congratulated herself in provoking the reaction out of him. Petty, but it felt good and she chalked it up to rightfully deserving since from his earlier immature antics. "Jeez, let a guy have his moment to be suspenseful and you're ready to bolt. Buzz kill."

Deadpan expression materializing once again. "Out with it." She grounded out.

He rolled his eyes and even had half a mind to retaliate by pressing a few more buttons, but no matter how tempting that would be, he was dangerously close to level 5 "Rage", and he could kiss the idea of hitting the carnival good bye, if he didn't find himself teleported to another dimension first. Sighing, he was ready to put his cards on the table. "On top of giving you that oh, so refreshing time to yourself with uninterrupted, Raven time," he air quoted flamboyantly. "I will personally become your errand boy."

"…"

That's it, and honestly he thought of all of this on the fly, no preemptive strategy, no calculating steps to counter whatever she may throw back at him, nothing, nada, zilch, the definition of free falling, and it screamed the embodiment of Changling.

Eye lids squinted a bit over amethyst irises. "Errand boy?" She knew fully well what an errand boy was, especially when the greenest and youngest team member was usually deemed the title by a certain cybernetic giant whenever they would have their childish wagers over any asinine game they decided to waste their time with, though Cyborg was on average the victor in these "games" he would use other… colorful words to describe Changling in those moments of servitude. The words beer bitch came to mind frequently now that she thought about it, Raven didn't curse much but she wasn't a prude either, she'll be lying if she didn't find those exchanges quite entertaining, especially with a frustrated brownish green faced animal lover stomping off to the kitchen grabbing the alcoholic beverage and flourishing the bottle as if it was the holy grail itself, antics which were also ordered by the tyrannical human machine every time he was "parched", as he would eloquently phrase. Of course, on the off chance that Changling did win these bets he would make sure to humiliate Cyborg just as badly or even worse. The french maid outfit will forever be seared into her mind, a sudden shiver raced up her spine.

"Yo, Rea? Hellooo?"

She flinched a bit from a green hand waving in front of her that helped her escape those traumatic thoughts. Lightly swiping at the hand while glaring at the offending intruder for once again invading her space, the young mind bender broached the deal. "What's the catch?"

Not that she was considering his offer, but the idea of not having another moment of being hounded down and pestered for a whole week was rightfully a thought to be mulled over. The idea of him also being her whipping boy was not necessary… but if she needed someone to fetch her a book at the local book store, possibly have him run out to the grocery store when it was her designated turn to do so, or bring her favorite flavored tea and toasted bagel with a healthy amount of strawberry cream cheese from her favorite café, then the thought didn't seem too ludicrous.

As much as she loved protecting people that couldn't do it for themselves what with these super villains running amok, she usually avoided whatever chance she could to stay out of the public eye. Changling and Starfire received enough of that on their own.

A knowing smirk graced his lips. "Paranoid much, Rae?" Another infamous deadpan look was his only response. "Come on. Look, everyone else is doing their own thing and having a good time." He lifted up both arms gesturing to the area around them. "It's just us, and who knows when Rob and Star are coming back, and you know Cyborg is out in Steel City 'helping' Bee and the rest of the Titan East crew out with whatever techno mumbo jumbo that randomly popped up, so he could be gone for days."

It was a well-known fact and running joke that Cyborg would find any excuse he could to head out to the sister Titan strong hold, and of course flippant excuses and reassurance that nothing was happening between the tin man and friendly yellow and black clad bruiser but unconditional friendship. Rolling of eyes, girlish giggling, exaggerated kissing noises, and knowing smirks was all the response Cyborg needed to flip off his friends and drive off to where he was supposedly needed.

She held his gaze, searching for any deceit or crack in his easy carefree smirk/smile exposing one of those long pearly canines, looking for any ulterior motives. Few seconds passed as she finally looked away, too aware how long they were holding eye contact and the occasional glance at his canine. Odd…

Comfort aside it didn't bother her per say, before Changling became the towering green man and was known as the lanky pubescent Beast Boy voice cracking and all, his goofy childlike smile and impish shrill voice tended to grate her nerves, but one quality, a certain characteristic feature that did stand out was that lone fang that would slightly protrude visibly whenever he would give his trademark smiles… and oddly, there was a boyish charm that had her fixated whenever they would have their rare heart to heart.

A lone hand came once again within her reach shaking her again from her thoughts but instead of it waving to gain her attention the palm was faced to the side as a gesture for a handshake. "Deal?" Changling looked to his brooding friend with the "odd" toothy smirk mirthfully but hope and a dash of desperation shining through his eyes that evidently showed his plan to get them outside would bare fruition.

A slow inhale through her nose and a deep exhale through her mouth, Raven not dramatically, but calculatingly held out her hand slowly reaching out to his and stopped just an inch from grasping it, looking up into his eyes suspiciously and then back down to his "innocent" hand as if he'll try psyching her out, the empath even slower grasped his hand which easily dwarfed her own and held her loosely with each digit wrapping around her. "Deal." She spoke out while holding his gaze.

Triumphantly, the youngest Titan smiled with all his teeth shown casually hiding his surprise and keeping his façade as if he knew this would work all along, ignoring the fact that doubt was the only thoughts running through his mind as she took her time finalizing their agreement. He shook her hand as if to seal the deal a few times and exclaimed proudly, "See! That wasn't so hard! You should trust me more, Rae. I'll never lead you ashtray." Words said jovially and without a care Changling attempted to release his hold on the short and petite crime fighter but was immediately halted as his loose grip tightened with a sudden jolt having him stumble a few inches forward toward his fellow Titan.

Steadying his unintentional approach, Changling looked down to his hand as slow and steady pressure was being applied to his appendage and stopping with just the right amount of discomfort and pain, contrast to the slow pressure on his hand he quickly realize the temperature in the room drastically lowered more specifically the area around him as the frigid feeling started at his hand and traveled up his arm and enveloped his whole being within seconds. He would've commented confusingly that even the vibrant colors around him had a muted look to them but any inquiry died off as he looked into the once familiar purplish blue hued eyes and instead met with strikingly one paired dark magenta colored eyes just stopping before a memory of four bloody red. Though the memory of an angry Raven will forever be engraved unwittingly into the uninspiring comedian, this glare no, leer will forever trump any stare received from the half demoness.

Throughout their whole exchange the hooded portion of Raven's cloak was up which is a norm and another trademark of hers, usually even with the hood up the lower portion of the sorceress' face was visible. But now, nothing. As if all her other features disappeared into oblivion just her eyes were present and looked to have grown slightly wider or quite possibly it was just the depth of her stare that he zeroed in, hypnotizing him within a state of warning and fear as his bestial instincts yelled at him to run, cower, and submit. Not like he could do either or all since that death grip he still foolishly held was not loosening.

Unblinkingly, "Fair warning, Garfield…" Raven spoke his given name ethereally but the demonic tone echoing out pass nonvisible lips as if there was more than one person speaking made his skin crawl and his instincts shouted louder. "If you're lying to me and back out of our deal, I won't hesitate to make your life hell." Last words added with a bit more pressure to his hand well past numb from the lack of blood circulating. "Trust me, I will make Cyborg help me as well." Now that made his own eyes widen and jaw clenched from the not so subtle threat. "Understood?"

A brief pregnant pause shook the frightened man to respond with short and quick nods, ignoring that she used his government name and not correcting her using its full use and not shorten like he preferred.

Pleased with the heady confirmation, Raven just as quickly returned the surrounding area from a lightly greyscale hue to their vibrant primary and secondary colors as well as having her eyes settle in her stoic gaze accompany with her lower face finally being shown again, as if nothing happened. Still clenching his hand she lightly tapped the back of his hand with foreign reassurance. "Good." Void of any voices but her own, the innocent empath swiftly walked past the stunned man and in the direction of where the elevators are located, but not without a ghost of a smile staining her lips. I still got it.

A slow quivering breathe that he hadn't realize he was holding was released and puffed out visibly. His body temperature was returning and he subconsciously clenched and unclenched his offended hand feeling the prick and needles signaling his blood was working through the vessels. Senses and instincts finally subsiding to a somewhat normal rhythm, Changling almost reconsidered the whole deal and just head up to his room, curl into a ball, and rock himself to bed wishing for no nightmares of images of Raven standing over his body in his sleep.

"Hurry up. I'm only allowing a few hours of this." Her tone wasn't annoyed but the edge was there as she shouted from outside the common room.

Flinching away from his halfcocked idea to ditch her and run knowing full well the suicidal implications from such actions, Changling quickly turned not without tripping over himself but quickly righted and walked/jogged to his feared partner. Reaching over to her but mindful to keep a significant amount of space between them completely contrary to how he was before and keeping his eyes everywhere but on her, he pressed the down button and no words were exchanged as seconds ticked away and the elevator dinged presenting itself to the floor they were currently on.

Raven stepped forward and Changling took a few cautious steps following steadily behind. He hugged close to the side walls clutching on the bar attached throughout the elevator acting as nonchalant as possible, though the creak of the bar was audible on how tight he was holding on. The sound only made the short woman smile just a bit more as she casually stood in the center without a care in the world with the doors finally closing but not without a smile that screamed mischievous and a quirk of an eyebrow.

Today may just be entertaining after all…

*Sigh* Look at them falling in love... no? Na, I wouldn't make it that easy. Once again, this fic is just venturing through the daily lives of our two favorite couple to be known... that may be me projecting but I'm sure you all would agree. The moment Raven or BB experience these heavy feelings is not going to be known anytime soon, but where I have them is two people that notice one another as the opposite sex but living together so long has numbed that attraction and being curious about the "what ifs" doesn't really cross their minds as much. I'm writing this story from a personal perspective on relationships between friends and when and why we would cross that line, whether it be the curiosity of the act of sex with that friend or a potential relationship that could involve them falling in love. The consequence that come from these actions could ruin a honest friendship and the struggle to either fool yourself in thinking there's nothing there between you two or letting go of those feelings entirely can be a huge deal. I'm sure there's plenty of people here that have had trouble taking action or responding to a friend that would like to have a relationship with them. That's where I wanna delve into. Our two protagonists throughout this journey are going to discover these subtle meaningful moments. I hope you all are looking forward to this than I am. Please do as you will, review, follow or what have you. Till next time.