First fanfic! Please R&R. More chapters to come!
It's been 5 years since the Teen Titans met in Jump City, and things are going as normal. Set after the TV series. Raven is my favorite character, and I was really hoping for Raven and Beast Boy to get together. Why should Robin and Starfire have all the fun? I'm sorry if this is boring, I just wanted to set up the characters.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. If I did, Raven and Beast Boy would have been together long ago.
The clock was ticking annoyingly loud. Each second seemed to be a minute long, and each minute was an hour. Raven longed to sleep, but her eyelids refused to droop, and sleep would not wash over her. She tossed and turned in her bed, the blanket eventually sliding off completely and onto the floor. Getting up to retrieve it, Raven groaned and cursed the night under her breath. She was annoyed. Laying the blanket back on her bed, she stared at it before deciding that she would not bother attempting sleep again; it would never come for the time being. Sighing, Raven walked to her door, only to have a book decide that her foot should not move any further, and she stumbled forward. Raven's pent-up anger was released, and the book paid the price. Encased in Raven's pulsing black energy, the cracking sound of its spine echoed throughout her dark room. Suddenly it exploded, pages hurtling through the air to land on everything but Raven. Satisfied for the moment, she nodded curtly and stepped out, sending a bolt of energy back into her room. As the door closed, she could hear her possessions tidying themselves up behind her.
The Titan's Tower, recognizing that Raven was wandering around, emitted a soft glow of light in the hallways, allowing Raven to see around her but not enough to wake her teammates. She passed Starfire's room, where the Tameranian's cute snores could be heard seeping under her door. Raven glowered, angry that everyone could sleep except for her.
Finally making it to the common room, Raven decided to make tea for herself. She prepared a mug of her favorite herbal tea, which she hoped would help her fall asleep. Taking it to the table, she used her powers to flick on the lights…
and was startled out of her wits as Beast Boy's voice yelped "hey!" from the semi-circular couch that was in front of the television. Raven's cup was encased in black energy and quickly shattered, spilling scalding hot tea all over her, which only added to her confusion and anger. Before Raven could realize what was happening, the chairs around her were up in the air and spinning around. She shut her eyes and took three deep breaths, only opening them when she heard all of the chairs touch gently down on the ground. Centered and calmer, she opened her eyes, trying to ignore the still-hot water that was dripping down her front and the sting of the tea that was in her eyes. She looked over at the couch to see Beast Boy peering over the top, checking to see that everything was okay before he emerged.
Walking over to Raven cautiously, Beast Boy gulped nervously, sure that she would send him out of the window for startling her.
"Um…are you okay?" he asked tentatively, wincing as his voice cracked. He hated how squeaky and immature his voice sounded. It only added to his image of a young, childish person trying to be a superhero.
Raven looked over at him blankly. Couldn't he see that she was tired? Couldn't he see the hot water dripping down her? Sometimes, thought Raven, Beast Boy can be extremely unobservant. Actually, that's pretty much all the time, when he isn't stating the obvious.
Raven sighed. "Yes, I'm all right." She used her powers to bring her a roll of paper towels, which she used to mop up the cooling tea. She could feel Beast Boy's eyes on her, and noticed his discomfort that was coming in waves at her. "Beast Boy, what is it? I can feel that you're uneasy. What's going on?" Raven inquired, trying to lighten up the situation by starting a conversation.
"Um, it's nothing. I mean, I feel bad for startling you. Are you okay? The water must have been hot. I mean, I must have done something, because you lost control…" Beast Boy trailed off, realizing what he had said. Normally, Raven would have thrown him off of the tower at this point, but she was mentally exhausted, and only had energy to tolerate him. She sighed for the umpteenth time that night.
"Beast Boy, I said I'm okay. You don't need to worry. Yes, you startled me, but I should have realized that someone was in the room before turning on the lights." Raven squinted at the clock. It was 2:48 in the morning. "What are you doing up this late? Usually you're the first one in bed and the last one up."
Beast Boy shifted around nervously. He was glad that Raven was not mad at him, but had wanted to avoid that question for as long as possible. Unlike Raven, he had been able to get some sleep that night, but had woken up because he had a dream about…well, about Raven. He didn't remember much, but whatever it had been had so startled him that he had woken up immediately and had found that sleeping again was quite impossible. So, he had wandered into the common room to watch TV, and had just turned it off and was about to try to sleep again when Raven had turned on the lights.
"Nothing!" he replied. Raven raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, I had a dream and couldn't get back to sleep," he admitted.
"Was it a nightmare?" Raven wondered. Beast Boy shook his head. No, it had most definitely not been a nightmare. Although he could not remember the details of the Raven-dream, he definitely knew that it had not been a nightmare. In fact, when he had woken up, he had been smiling to himself. Beast Boy shook his head to get rid of the thought. He did not know how far Raven's empathy abilities reached, and he did not want her reading him mind.
Raven stared at him inquisitively, wondering what was happening in his green head. He must be thinking about something, she realized. Happy laughed. Thinking? That's a good one! she giggled in Raven's head.
"So, what are you doing up?" Beast Boy asked. Raven looked up at him, purple eyes staring in to green ones.
"Couldn't sleep. I came here to get some tea," she replied.
"Looks like the tea got you!" Beast Boy said immediately, eyeing her damp hair and leotard. Raven again raised an eyebrow at him, unsure if he was purposely making a joke. Beast Boy noticed. "Um, sorry Rae, that was…that wasn't…"
"It's alright," she replied. An awkward silence descended, neither Titan looking at the other. Beast Boy was hoping that she didn't notice that he had called her "Rae." She hated that name. Meanwhile, Raven slowly realized that she was not wearing her cape (she never did while she slept – or was trying to), and the tea that covered her leotard was now cold. She shivered subconsciously, which did not go unnoticed by Beast Boy.
"Hey, you're cold," he said. Raven looked down and nodded.
"I'm going to go change," she responded.
"Okay. Are you coming back?" Beast Boy asked. He wasn't sure why he said that, but wanted Raven's company. She looked at him before nodding again.
"Sure. See you in a minute," she replied deadpan, walking towards the exit. As the doors hissed shut behind her, Beast Boy let out a sigh. He noticed that the shards of her mug were scattered on the floor, and he quickly grabbed the hand-vacuum that Cyborg had recently added to their appliances. Cleaning up the dining area and wiping away any remains of the tea, Beast Boy looked around, satisfied with his work. He flopped down on the couch and waited for Raven to return.
Five minutes later, Raven entered the common room, in a clean leotard and this time with her cape on. She levitated over to Beast Boy, and slowly sat down on the couch, far away from the changeling. He grinned at her and scooted closer. Raven forced herself to not recoil as Timid nervously said, What's he doing? in her head. Relax, Timid, Raven replied. He's just a friend. A nervous friend, she added, again noticing Beast Boy's discomfort.
"So, Raven," he began, breaking the quiet that had settled over them. "What's up?" he asked lamely, unsure of where to begin.
"Oh, nothing," she replied impassively. "Yesterday we took down Plasmus, the day before that we dealt with the Hive Five, and the day before that – "
"I know, I know. I mean, what's up with you? Like, read any good books recently?" he asked, skittish. How do you talk to a girl? he wondered. This shouldn't be that hard! I've known her for years now!
"No," she said.
"Oh. Um, wanna hear a joke?" he tried again.
"No." Raven rolled her eyes. They stared outside for a few more moments before Raven stood up suddenly. "I'm going to go to my room. Thanks for cleaning up. See you…later." She nodded curtly at him and left the room. Beast Boy stared after her. I can't have one good conversation with her. Why is this so hard? We're both 20 now, we've known each other for 5 years. And not one good conversation since then. I either ruin them, or she just gives me one-word answers. Beast Boy pondered the dark empath for a few more minutes before yawning and deciding that it was time to try sleeping again. He turned off the lights, and the common room was plunged into darkness, ready to be used again when the rest of the Titans woke up later that day.
Please R&R! I'd love to hear what you think! I'll post a new chapter soon. Ta-ta, Titan lovers!