"Hey, you!"
The violet haired sorceress stirred from her unintentional slumber, and lifted her head from its place on the floor, her mind still groggy from sleep. She was not in her room, and she couldn't quite remember why at the moment.
"Hel-lo? Anyone home?", the voice teased.
She blinked slowly, trying to wake herself more completely before searching the room for the source of the disembodied voice that had interrupted her impromptu nap. She faintly realized that her shoulder was stiff from sleeping on such a hard surface, but quickly disregarded it in favor of focusing on the matter at hand. She had turned all the way around before her lilac eyes alighted on the source.
"What's up, sleepyhead?", Beast Boy stood on the other side of the Common Room, leaning against the kitchen counter and grinning as if he had just found a twenty dollar bill. Raven yawned as she stretched her arms above her head and then worked out the kinks in her neck. She noticed how quiet the Tower was, and turned to her green teammate, "Beast Boy, where are the others?" He chuckled a bit, "They went to get pizza. We didn't want to wake you, so I volunteered to stay behind. That way you wouldn't freak out when you woke up to an empty Tower." She raised a skeptical eyebrow, "You didn't want to wake me, so you came and woke me up?"
He crossed his arms defensively, "You've been asleep for four hours. That's a loooong time to try to stay quiet." She blinked in confusion, "Four hours?" He nodded in agreement. "Wow.", she breathed. He stifled a laugh, "Yeah, I've never seen you fall asleep anywhere other than your room!" He paused for a second, before seeming to find an error in what he said, "Not that I've seen you asleep in your room! I just assume you sleep in there! … You do sleep in there, right? I mean, obviously you sleep." She furrowed her brow, and he began nervously rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm … Just gonna shut up now." She smiled slightly at his lack of tact, "That would be wise."
He grinned doltishly for a minute before slapping his forehead and retrieving Raven's mug from the counter on which he had been leaning, "I made you some tea. Heh, I thought it would work kinda like the coffee commercials and you'd wake up cause you smelled it! Then it started getting cold..." She couldn't help but to smile at his child-like logic. It was one of the things she liked about him. She began getting up, when she realized that he had already plopped down in the floor beside her. Beast Boy held out the mug with his signature goofy grin stretched across his face. "Hope Chamomile is okay." She nodded before taking a long sip, humming to herself as the hot, refreshing liquid trickled down her throat. He sniffed the air, and sighed in contentment, "I like the way it smells."
She tilted her head to the side, "Do you have a heightened sense of smell in human form?" He shrugged, "I guess so. Why?" Raven took another sip of her tea before replying, "Just something I never thought to ask." He smiled weakly in response as he gazed out the giant window at the retreating sun, and lapsed into silence for a good five minutes. Raven glanced at the harbor, but preferred to study his face rather than the scenery. She had seldom seen such a sad and thoughtful look touch his features.
Raven wasn't normally the type to pry, but the look in his eyes prompted her to try a conversation with him. "What are you thinking about?" He started, "Huh? Oh, it's nothing!" She once again raised an eyebrow, and he sighed in response, "When I was little, my mom and I would do things like this together. We'd climb the tallest tree we could find, and then we'd sit and watch the sun set. The sky was always so colorful. She said it was nature's way of going out with a bang." He smiled sadly, blinking back soft tears. "You miss her.", Raven stated. He let out a forced chuckle, "Yeah. Even walking back home in the dark, when all the jungle animals started coming out, she made me feel safe. Like everything was gonna be okay."
He looked out at the water surrounding them, and took in a deep breath, letting it out very deliberately and slowly. "I guess you and the Titans kinda do that now.", he said as he momentarily glanced in her direction, before looking back to the red painted sky. Raven slowly took his gloved hand in hers, giving it a squeeze and offering a soft smile of encouragement before turning back to the captivating display of colors, "Thanks."
He shifted slightly, and gave her a puzzled look, "For what, Raven?" She continued to study the sky, as she replied just loud enough for him to pick up, "For sharing that with me." He stared at her for a while before speaking,
"So … wanna play Mega Monkeys 4?"
So there you have it! This short one-shot came out of a desire to convey a close friendship rather than a relationship between Beast Boy and Raven.
Leave a review and let me know what you did or didn't like about the story! (i.e. Characterization, word choice, etc.) I haven't really written much in a few years, so I realize I'm rusty!
Later Days!
~Rose