I wrote this for the Teen Titans Secret Santa 2015. It's my first time writing this ship so please enjoy!

It wasn't the grand gestures.

"Beast Boy, I can levitate."

"But Raven, what kind of guy would I be if I didn't give my girlfriend a lift when her ankle was sprained?"

She sighed.

"You're really not going to let this go?"

"Nope!"

"Fine."

Beast Boy pumped his fist in the air and whirled around, presenting his back to her.

"Hop on, milady!"

Raven rested her hands on his shoulders, setting her injured leg in his hand. She hopped up and, just as his other arm caught her leg, he unexpectedly morphed. Jolting up several feet, Raven gasped and held tight to his new form. After the momentary transformation, she tilted her head around to get a better look at him. Her expression soured.

"Seriously, a horse?"

He let out a smug snort. Beast Boy turned his head to stare at her, his pleading eyes the same as before. Normally, Raven would slap him with her powers for tricking her like this. She barely agreed to a piggyback ride, let alone a horseback ride. However, there was something almost flattering about Beast Boy treating her with his animal form. Normally, if he transformed around the Tower it was for his personal comfort. Snoozing in the sunlight as a cat or playing with Silkie as an alien silkworm was fun for him. If Robin asked him to do the team a favor, Beast Boy would complain that his animal forms were being used as pack mules.

Besides, and never would she admit it to her teammates, Raven had a soft spot for horses.

Maybe just this one time.

"If Cyborg gets a picture, you can forget about the movie premiere next week," she warned him.

Nodding his head, Beast Boy trotted down the hall, his hooves clicking with every step. Raven settled in, wrapping her fingers around his silky mane. She let out a soft sigh, wondering how on earth she ended up dating such a dork.

It wasn't the heart pounding moments.

"Beast Boy!"

At her cry, the man pulled the dagger out of the tiger's leg. He darted into the darkness as Cyborg and Starfire rushed after him, their eyes brimming with fury. Robin and Raven fell to Beast Boy's side. Shrinking back into his human form, he cried out, clutching his spasming limb.

"Beast Boy, let me see," Robin ordered.

"It hurts! It hurts so bad," he moaned, curling up into a ball. His face twisted into a pained expression that the boy rarely wore. Blood streamed from the wound, staining Beast Boy's uniform. Raven could feel her heart pulsing against her chest.

"I know it hurts, but we have to look at it to help you. Here, give me your hand." Robin brushed his fingers against Beast Boy's knuckles, holding out a palm. After a moment, the boy removed his hand from his leg to grip Robin's tightly. The leader nodded at the paling Raven. She sucked in a breath and began her work.

Her hands glowed blue. Concentrating her energy into repairing the torn ligaments, Raven tried to ignore the pulsing in her ears. Beast Boy needed her to be calm. She couldn't afford to lose control of her powers now.

Stay focused. It's a nonlethal stab wound. He'll be in pain for a few weeks, but he'll be okay. Focus, she reprimanded herself.

As the minutes dragged on, the bleeding finally stopped. Raven was able to close the wound. She wiped away the blood sticking to his leg with her cape. Beast Boy managed a joke about having a personal handkerchief the next time he needed to blow his nose. Raven said nothing.

Cyborg and Starfire soon returned with the man apprehended. The police arrived and led the culprit into a squad car. Robin asked Raven if she could handle Beast Boy from there. She gave the slightest hint of a nod.

A heavy silence fell between the pair. Raven allowed the glow to fade from her hands, determining that she had done everything she could for now. Her hood shadowed her face, guarding her breaking stoicism.

"Raven. . ."

"Don't."

Beast Boy held his breath for a moment, his green eyes trying to decipher her through the mask.

"Don't do that again," she choked out, her shoulders shuddering.

"Thank you, Rae."

It was the little moments, day by day.

"What do you get when you cross an elephant with a ladybug? AHHHH A GIANT LADYBUG EATING THE CITY!"

No response.

"What did the bee say when he walked in the door? Honey. I'm home!"

She continued reading unaffected.

"Ooh! You'll like this one. Where do books sleep? Under their covers!"

"Give it a rest, Beast Boy."

"Hang on, I've got one more that's sure to get ya. Wanna hear it?"

"No."

"Can February March?"

Her eye twitched.

"No, but April May."

A snort sounded from the back of her throat, bubbling over with no way to retract it. She slapped a hand over her mouth as Beast Boy gawked at her.

"I. . . I did it," he stammered. He leaped into the air, hooting a victory cry. "I made Raven laugh! I'm a comedic genius!"

"That wasn't a laugh," she corrected him angrily, hiding her flushed face behind her book.

"But that was a start!" he insisted. "I'll hear it out of you one of these days. And I'll be the one to make you smile."

Through all the frustrations

Raven didn't raise an eyebrow when Beast Boy smirked at her upon her entrance into the ops room. She didn't spare him a glance when he hopped towards her. And she certainly didn't roll her eyes when he morphed into a raven and perched himself on her book.

"Can I help you?" she drawled.

He squawked.

Shutting her book, she effectively sent him flailing to the floor. Raven rose up and walked back towards her room. The sound of claws clicking on the floor trailed after her. He occasionally morphed back into a human to shout 'ask me why I'm a raven!' before resuming his increasingly irritating birdcalls. Halfway to her gloomy sanctuary, she whirled around, her powers beginning to flare around her.

"Let me guess, it's so we can be twins, right?"

"No, it's so we can be birds of a feather," he doubled over into hysterical laughter.

Raven groaned.

and misunderstandings

"You ready?"

"As ready as I can be."

The moment they stepped onto the ice, they slipped and their arms shot out to grasp the other, sending them both tumbling ungracefully onto the ice.

Raven lifted her head from where it landed on Beast Boy's shoulder, wincing from the icy impact her elbow took.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but you were supposed to keep us both standing."

"What? You were holding me up."

"No, I was leaning on you. I thought you were good at ice skating."

"I thought you were!"

They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment after the realization set in. Beast Boy chuckled and rubbed his slightly bruised head.

"Well, at least we can be bad at ice skating together. And if we fall again, I'll make sure to catch you as a fluffy polar bear."

"Just don't break the ice. I'd rather not die by hypothermia," Raven smirked.

they learned.

"What are you doing?"

Beast Boy let out a high-pitched shriek and spun to face Raven, gripping his chest. His eyes bugged for a moment, the image almost sending a twitch of a smile across Raven's lip.

"Don't do that! I didn't hear you walk in," Beast Boy protested.

"That's because I floated in," she deadpanned.

"Oh." Beast Boy stared at her awkwardly before turning back to the smoking microwave. "Well, I wanted to surprise you, but since you're here, I'll let you in on the secret."

Raven raised an eyebrow.

A surprise? For me? she wondered. Beast Boy leaned in close to her ear as if trying to prevent anyone else from overhearing. This was impossible as the other Titans were elsewhere in the Tower. Nonetheless, Raven played along.

"I'm trying to make tea for you," he whispered dramatically. "But I think I busted the microwave again. So now I have to heat the water fast before Cyborg finds out I was in here."

Raven replayed his first sentence in her head for a moment. Beast Boy and her were not close. However, since his and Cyborg's unintentional trip into her mind last week, he noticeably tried to reach out to her. He would inform her when a horror movie was playing on TV and, often times to her chagrin, get in her personal space more comfortably than before.

It was. . . nice of him.

"If you're going to make tea, let me show you the right way," she said, walking over to the stove to fetch the kettle. Beast Boy followed her, eager to learn from the master. He listened her instructions, with the occasional suggestion thrown in to try to improve the final product. After it was all said and done, Beast Boy presented his work to her. She took a brief sip, careful to not burn her tongue.

"Needs work, but not completely terrible," she conceded.

Beast Boy let out an enthusiastic 'yeah!' which quickly turned into a squeal when Cyborg entered the room. The cybernetic teen spotted the charred microwave. His human eye narrowed.

"Beast Boy. . ." he growled.

"I'll do better next time gotta go!" the shapeshifter promised as he morphed into a cheetah and darted out of the room to escape his friend's wrath.

"I'll be the judge of that," Raven muttered as she tilted the mug to take another sip.

They learned how to compromise,

"Sooo," Beast Boy drawled. "Was it worth it?"

Raven turned to him. A nerve throbbed at the remembrance of being surrounded by sweaty and overly enthusiastic fans at the autograph signing for some movie star whose name she couldn't care to remember. Beast Boy had begged and pleaded with her to take him because it he had found out minutes before it began that the signing was on the other side of town. Due to his currently sprained arm, there was no way he would make it in any animal form. Plus every other Titan was either busy or cross with him after his latest prank spree, so they wouldn't offer him any assistance. He promised her that if she took him he would be on his best behavior at her dark poetry night. While she didn't expect him to completely uphold his end of the bargain, she was genuinely surprised that he wanted to go with her. The café was nowhere near his normal hang out, but he insisted that he wanted to find out what the big deal was.

Throughout the event, Beast Boy only opened his mouth to whisper questions in between each speaker. After some time, he was completely absorbed by each poet pouring soulful and often disturbing thoughts into every word.

Raven found his piqued interest rather touching. Maybe she would bring him again someday.

"I would say so," she responded, a smile emerging.

to trust,

"How do you do it?" he spoke up finally.

Raven glanced at him. Seated on the edge of the Tower's roof, Beast Boy kept his gaze fixed on the sunset. Raven found him like this some time ago. She had come up to the roof to get some fresh air and approached him. Whether he was lost in thought or was in an uncharacteristically melancholy mood, he did not acknowledge her. Respecting his wish for silence, she did not say a word either. However, she could sense that something was weighing heavily upon his mind, so she waited.

With his question now hanging in the air, she took the bait.

"Do what?"

"I've seen how hard it is for you to contain Rage. She hangs on like a leech and drains you until you can't do anything but focus on overcoming her. How do you make sure she doesn't take over and hurt anyone?" he asked solemnly.

Raven mulled over her answer. Years of experience had taught her how to properly meditate so her powers would not manifest outside of her control. Still, there were days when a bad event set her off and Rage refused to return control. A long meditation session was usually all she needed, but concentrating on such a task was tougher for Beast Boy. He was too full of energy and lacked restraint. So she considered a different approach.

"Well," she started. "I try to get some distance so I have room to contain her. Meditation, scented candles, my usual ritual. But what really helps is remembering why I can't let her take over." She sat down next to him. "I spend time with friends. You. Cyborg. Starfire. Robin. All of you are why I can live as a hero. That's why I have the strength to hold her inside of me."

A thoughtful silence filled the air. The pair hardly noticed the waves crashing below them. They were entangled in each other's wisdom and struggle. Their unusual similarity was not understood by most, so they relished that they could share such a burden.

"Sometimes," Beast Boy muttered. "Whenever I get upset, over something not that big of a deal, like losing to Cyborg in a video game, I can feel him lurking. Like he's waiting to burst out of me again. I'm afraid to get angry because what if I accidentally let him out?" He propped his chin against his knees and wrapped his arms around his legs, almost as if trying to cage his fear.

"You may not have remembered, but he did fight to protect me. It's still scary, carrying him inside of you, but you just have to strengthen your control. Every day is a different challenge in how difficult it is, but you learn how to keep peace of mind," she offered him.

"Then can you teach me? Can you teach me how not to be scared of him?" he asked meekly, still staring off into the horizon. Raven felt his uncertainty, his pain surrounding him in that moment. But rising above that was his never-ending optimism. She would make sure that the Beast would not take that from him, no matter its intentions. She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

"I'll be there for you every step of the way," she promised.

Beast Boy made eye contact with her. Seeing the determination in her eyes, he smiled.

to love,

"Raaaaaeeeeveeen," Beast Boy whined. Having just finished her meditation by the large window, she rotated in the air just enough to spot him. He was practically dragging himself across the carpet to reach her. It would have amused Raven if it weren't for his recent injury that was ailing him. Only yesterday, Cinderblock had thrown him through a wall and he crashed through head first, leaving him with a lasting headache. Raven did her best to treat him, but some healing simply needed time.

"Your head hurting again?" she asked, already knowing his answer, but trying to get a gauge on the seriousness of his pain.

"It feels like Cyborg is drilling my skull with one of his fancy tools," he said, plopping himself on the floor near her. She grounded herself and kneeled to place a hand on his head gently. He winced, but didn't jerk away.

"I suppose you're due for another healing session anyway." She seated herself behind him and settled her hands on his shoulders. "Here, lie back." She lowered him backwards until his head rested in her lap. Upon realizing that Raven's soft leg was pressed against his wild head of hair, Beast Boy grinned.

"So all I had to do to get your attention was get a monster headache? I'll keep that in mind," his voice lowering as he spoke.

"Griping will get you nowhere," she rolled her eyes. Focusing her healing abilities through her hands, she began her work. After a few minutes of silence, his fanged smile remained, distracting Raven.

"I thought you were supposed to be groaning about your 'monster headache,'" she said.

"Nope. I'm just going to lie in the world's coziest spot and enjoy the view," he winked.

Raven's cheeks burned. If she was embarrassed, then why did she allow him to rest in her lap? Having dated for some time, she was growing more comfortable with physical contact. Kisses were becoming a welcome activity when no one was around to witness them. But even this simple act seemed rather. . . intimate.

Removing her hands, Raven decided that she had relieved Beast Boy of most of his pain. Another session before he went to sleep would likely still be necessary as he had a habit of accidentally aggravating injuries.

"That's all for now. Just keep taking your pills and let me know if it'll be hard for you to sleep tonight," she reminded him. However, she made no motion to remove him from his current position.

"But I can stay here, right?" he asked, clasping his hands over his stomach.

"Your presence helps me with meditation, so I suppose," she relented. A moment's pause and she confessed, "and this is. . . cozy for me too."

"You loooove me," Beast Boy said in a sing-song voice.

"And you love me, so now we're stuck with each other," Raven responded, running her hand through his hair.

"I can live with that. But we might need Cyborg to fetch us some tofu and tea for food," he chuckled.

"Good luck getting him to feed you tofu," she snorted.

Leaning down, she pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. Beast Boy sighed happily.

simply so that they could be with one another. And now they've grown to live simply because of the connection that they share.