[This story could be considered as a sequel to my story 'Innocent Remark' ]
Raven wasn't at breakfast.
By itself, that wasn't so unusual. She just had tea anyway, and sometimes a bagel. But now it was time for the morning briefing, and she still didn't show up.
Most of the team wasn't particularly concerned. Robin had learned long ago to just give her space when she needed it. With the rest of the team sitting on the sofa, he stood up and gave a brief talk of the latest criminal developments. Gizmo was rumored to be building an army of anatomically correct female robots (possibly due to him starting puberty), Billy Numerous was multi-tasking again, See-More was…yada, yada, yada…
Beast Boy wasn't listening. He kept looking at the grey metal door, waiting for it to slide open. The rest of the team wasn't concerned, but he was. Because he knew something that they didn't.
But it never opened. The meeting ended, and Robin wanted everyone to work out on the outdoor obstacle course for an hour, then they were free for the rest of the day - unless an emergency came up.
They all went outside and stood behind the tower, in the chilly morning air, while Robin adjusted the programming for the obstacles. Starfire edged her way out of the tower's shadow and into the sun to warm up and absorb energy. Beast Boy joined her.
"Hey, Star," he said. "Um … have you seen Raven today?"
"No, I have not done the seeing of her," Starfire replied. "But you do know that sometimes she likes to stay in the room all day."
"I know," he mumbled.
Cyborg had just had his turn, and dominated the obstacle course ("Boo-yah!") when the alert sounded. Robin whipped out his communicator and read the report.
"Trouble at Broadway and E-Street!" he shouted. "Punk Rocker has teamed up with Overload. He's blasting out power chords without tuning up first, and murdering perfectly good songs. Star, Beast Boy, you two fly over. Cyborg and I will come in the vehicles."
"What about Raven?" Beast Boy asked.
"She can meet us there. Titans, go!"
.
.
Beast Boy morphed into a peregrine falcon and flew with Starfire across the bay. They soon located the disturbance, seeing a crowd of people with their hands over their ears and some shattered glass windows. Punk Rocker was standing on a stage with a wall of amplifiers and attempting to cover some old Billy Idol tunes, attempting being the right word. Overload was shooting lightning bolts into the sky.
As no one appeared to be in imminent danger, they remained airborne until Robin arrived on his cycle and Cyborg in the T-Car. When they landed, Cyborg got out of the driver's side and Raven emerged from the other.
"Um, hi, Raven," he said quickly, before they got to the business at hand.
"Hi, Beast Boy," she said pleasantly.
But she didn't stick around to talk. Robin and Starfire rushed the stage and took down the guitarist, who gave up after a few broken strings. Cyborg and Raven opened a fire hydrant and shorted out Overload. Then Raven was back in the car, slamming the door shut, leaving Beast Boy standing to the side, tongue-tied and confused.
.
.
That evening, Beast Boy stood alone in the hallway outside Raven's door.
He was full of excitement because of how good this conversation could turn out. And he was full of fear because of how bad this could turn out. He swallowed and forced his hand to rise up and knock.
No response.
He tried again, harder this time.
"Who is it?" Raven's voice called out.
"Um, it's me."
After a long moment of silence, the door slid halfway open to reveal Raven standing there. She wasn't wearing her cloak, only her dark colored leotard. He noticed the smell of burning incense. He noticed how tightly her leotard clung to the curves of her body.
"Hi."
"Hi," she replied, with a little smile escaping, but then her face went back to neutral.
"Um, is everything okay? We missed you at dinner earlier."
"Everything is fine."
He noticed her eyes were a little red, but he couldn't tell if that was from crying or all the smoke. There was an awkward silence, and she started to close the door.
"I missed you at dinner," he said.
She sighed. "Come in. We, … , we need to talk."
Beast Boy followed her into her room. "I really wanted to see you today."
"I know," she said softly.
"I had a good time last night…"
"I know."
The only light was from the many candles that she had lit. As they flickered, he looked around at her collection of books, many lying open, and her bizarre artifacts. A stick of incense was burning in the corner, making a haze of smoke. Stone gargoyles stared down at him from the many bookshelves. What are you doing in here? they seemed to say.
"I guess you've been reading a lot?" he ventured.
She sat down on the foot of her strange bed with the carved wood overhang that looked like one of the hoods that she wore. He stood awkwardly in front of her, seeing no chair in the room.
"I think we made a mistake," she said slowly. "Last night."
OK, so this is going to go bad, he thought, with a sick feeling starting to form in his stomach.
"Um … guys typically don't like to hear that," he replied with an attempt at a smile.
"I'm sorry." She looked into his eyes, then down at the floor. "We shouldn't have done it."
"All we did was kiss, Raven. Once. What's wrong?"
She motioned for him to sit down on the bed, and he did so.
She looked at the ground. "I'm not supposed to do things like that. I was raised to not have feelings."
"The whole time I've known you, you've had feelings, Raven, whether you admit it or not," he pointed out delicately.
She turned to stare him in the eyes. "My emotions are dangerous! Haven't you ever seen things get destroyed?"
"You control it a lot better now," he assured her. "And I know you would never hurt anyone."
"You're sweet…but…"
"But?"
She scooted close to him on the bed, even as her words conveyed the opposite intention.
"But…I don't have feelings for you. I just like you as a friend and teammate."
She reached out and clasped his hand in hers. He noticed, but also noticed a stinging in his eyes and them getting a little watery. It must be all the smoke in here. Raven's eyes looked redder too.
"What about last night?" he protested.
"It was a mistake," she said calmly. "A moment of weakness."
She caressed his knuckles as she talked.
"You're a great guy. It's just that I'm not … attracted … to you, in that way."
"Then why are you doing this?" he indicated the holding of his hand. She stopped caressing, but didn't let go of it.
"I'm sorry. I know I've hurt you. You should have realized by now I'm not a good person…"
He frowned and ignored that remark. "So who do you want?"
"I don't know how to say it …" She looked away wistfully. "I want someone who's like me. Someone older, who had read a lot, and knows the answers to my questions… Someone deep and serious… Someone who can help me explore my a dark side."
"I read books … sometimes," he sputtered.
"I want someone who can sweep me off my feet…."
"Someone who's tall, dark and handsome?"
"Well … yes. Why shouldn't I have exactly what I want?"
"Like a prince, or a great wizard…?"
"Yes…" It sounded a little embarrassing to have it said so bluntly, but it was true.
"Like Malchior?"
She glared at him, feeling the sting of that cut. A mixture of shock and anger and embarrassment were in her eyes.
"You right, Raven," he said angrily, pulling is hand back from her and standing up. "I'm nothing like Malchior."
He started toward the door. She jumped up and gently grabbed his arm.
"Don't go."
"Why not? That's your fantasy, Raven. I'm not part of it. I'm real."
He slipped free and continued to the door. She quickly followed.
"I know you are! I know you're nothing like him. That's what I love about you. Please don't leave."
He hesitated. "What?"
"I said you're nothing like him."
"The other thing."
"I said please don't leave."
He shook his head. She scooted around him and now stood between him and the door.
"I'm afraid, okay?" she said softly.
"Of what?"
Her gaze dropped. "I'm afraid of someone real." But she stepped in closer to him.
He put his hands on her upper arms. "Don't be afraid."
Without thinking about it, they moved closer and her hands touched his waist. Yet she was still worried. She looked back into his eyes.
"But what if it is a mistake?"
His arms went around her. Now they were fully embracing, their faces just a few inches apart.
"Then … we'll make it together," he replied.
Their lips met in a kiss, and as the gargoyles watched, they kissed for a long time.
[I hope you liked the story. That last scene is probably still rough, but it had to get done today]