Oneshot song fic, just for you guys and gals! I figured I'd try my hand at it, see if I had talent at it/ did it right. Got two more planned, though they're for the Parallel World Anthologies.
Iffen ya like it, R&R! Please and thank you :)
"You're nothing but an annoying little pest! Why can't you just leave me alone?!"
Raven, violet eyed and haired half-demon daughter of the tyrannical demon warlord Trigon, stood shaking in anger. All around her cups, cups, plates, utensils, and various appliances began to crack, break, and explode. It was all because of him.
Him. That thrice-damned changeling.
Said green skinned Beast Boy frowned, his shoulders sagging. "But Rae, I just-"
"But nothing! You keep annoying and annoying me day after day and it's gotten on my last fucking nerve! Just leave me alone, Beast Boy." She spat. "And stop calling me Rae! My name is Raven!"
"Hold on Raven, he was just-" Cyborg, the local half man half machine, reached out to try to calm her down. It only infuriated her more.
"No, I'm tired of his bullshit! It's always lame-ass jokes, stupid attempts at pranking, and constantly bothering me, not to mention he's ridiculously loud and immature! He's nothing but a damned nuisance!"
She glared at him, not giving a damn as the light in his eyes flickered and died out. He sighed.
"Okay Raven, you win." He turned away, going back to the breakfast he had been making.
"There's nothing to win, you twit, this isn't a contest."
"Okay…"
Raven snorted and left the room, needing to meditate. Had she been paying attention, she would have seen him start to tremble. As the door closed behind her Beast Boy started to shake, trying so hard to stop the tears from falling. He had been making breakfast for everyone and had been trying really hard to impress Raven this morning. He made her waffles and tea, but burnt the waffles a little and messed up the tea pretty bad. He didn't know that that was the last of her tea either, so her blowing up at him was completely unexpected.
A cool metal arm wrapped around his shoulders as Cyborg hugged his best friend. "Come on man, let it out."
Shaking harder, the changeling lowered his head. "I keep screwing up, Cy. I'm trying so hard and it keeps blowing up in my face."
"I know bro, I know."
"I don't even know why I keep trying, she always treats me like dirt." Beast Boy's voiced cracked as the tears started. "I don't think I can take any more of this dude. It just hurts too much."
Cyborg sighed. "I don't know what to tell you bro. You picked this most complicated girl in the universe to fall for. You knew this wasn't going to be easy."
The little green guy nodded miserably and looked at the food cooking. "I'm not hungry anymore. You can have it."
Before Cyborg could respond, Beast Boy pulled away from him and left the room. He passed Robin and Starfire, not even hearing their greeting. The caped crusader and alien princess noted this immediately and turned to the other Titan.
"What's up with Beast Boy? Another argument with Raven?" Robin asked, looking around at all the damage.
"Yeah, you could say that." Cyborg snorted. "He tried making her breakfast to apologize for stepping on her book and tearing a page the other day. She went straight up postal on him."
"Friend Raven seems to be more irritable lately." Starfire glanced at the door. "Perhaps I should have 'the girl talk' with her?"
"No, just let her cool off and apologize to Beast Boy before you try it." Robin shook his head.
Cyborg said nothing as he picked up the cooking his little bro left behind. Something about this situation didn't seem right.
He had no idea how right he was.
It's been two weeks since Raven and Beast Boy's fight and the whole tower felt the effects. Beast Boy no longer smiled or joked, he didn't play games, and he rarely talked. Anything he did was in silence. Occasionally he would leave the tower for an entire night and sleep all the next day. Otherwise, he was always in his room with his headphones on, sleeping or at least pretending to sleep.
Cyborg decided he had silently watched this display of severe depression for long enough after watching his best friend not even react when a bubble of grease popped up from the frying pan and hit him in the face. The mechanical man quietly fumed until the changeling ate and departed for his room.
The moment the door shut, Cy slammed his fist into the table, shattering it. Robin barely had time to save his and Starfire's plates before his turned wide eyed to his friend.
"Dude, what the heck?!"
"I'm sick of this! Look at him! It's like he's got no will to live now!" The older Titan shouted. "He's like a damn zombie!"
"Cyborg, I know you're concerned but-"
"There are no buts, Rob! That's my best friend! And I'll be damned if I let this go on any longer!"
Robin watched him stomp from the room before he sighed. "Come on, Starfire, let's try to keep this civil."
A wave of anger washed over Raven, making her crack an eye open to look at her door. There was someone angry outside of it, Cyborg, judging from the aura. A hard knock on the door made her open both eyes.
"What is it, Cyborg?" She droned monotonously.
"We need to talk." He said gruffly, his voice muffled by the thick steel.
"Come back in a bit, I'm meditating right now." She closed her eyes.
The anger grew even wilder and Raven willed herself to stop levitating with a sigh. Just as she set down on the bed, the sound of tearing steel brought her attention back to the door.
Cyborg had punched through the door and was now tearing it out. With a grunt, he ripped the door out and tossed it to the side. The half machine stomped up to the wide eyed and slack jawed sorceress, his fury evident in every movement as he dwarfed her.
Normally, Raven was afraid of little. But now…she was afraid. Cyborg was the one person in the tower she had never had any legitimate aggression towards and the same was to be said about him towards her. But now he was very angry with her and she didn't know why. She knew he wouldn't hurt her physically, but his words were always blunt and to the point when it was something important.
Cyborg leaned down, his face full of anger and his cybernetic eye glowing moreso than usual.
"You need to apologize. Now." He growled.
"For?"
"You know what."
"If I knew I wouldn't have asked." She tried to glare back at him, but couldn't.
"It's been two weeks, Raven. It's past time to apologize to him." Cy straightened up and crossed his arms.
She raised an eyebrow. "Apologize to Beast Boy? Why would I do that?"
His human eye twitched. "Because he deserves an apology."
"No, he doesn't."
"Really, Raven?!" He shouted, making her jump. "Have you even seen him since you blew up at him?! Do you have any idea how much you hurt him when you said that?! Do you have any idea how little he's eaten?! Do you know how long it's been since he's laughed?! He hasn't even smiled since that day!"
Raven wilted under his barrage of words. She really hadn't thought of him at all since that day. Instead, she had enjoyed the silence to its fullest.
"But Cyborg-"She started, but was cut off.
"But nothing, Raven." He said coldly. "He's your friend and you told him that he was nothing. For someone that's an empath, you should know how much that hurt him."
"But he always bounces back. He's Beast Boy, it's what he does." The young sorceress said defensively, feeling like he was backing her into a corner.
"It's hard to bounce back when someone you care about a lot tells you that."
Raven hesitated, looking up into her friends' eyes. They were cold and angry.
Okay, maybe she had overreacted.
Maybe she had been preemptively irritated because she hadn't had any restful sleep for the past couple of weeks for reasons unknown to her.
Maybe she had thought at the time that it was fine to yell at him, he always shrugged it off anyways.
Maybe she was wrong to do it.
"And if I don't think I should apologize?" She said sullenly as she looked away.
Cyborg stared hard at her for a long moment before speaking slowly. "Then you'll get your wish. Beast Boy will still be hurt and not talking to anyone and I damn sure won't speak to you either."
"I hate to say it, but I agree with Cyborg." A voice drifted from the wrecked door.
The teens looked up to find Robin and Starfire in the doorway. It was Robin who had spoken up.
Raven's mouth dropped open as Robin turned away. She looked to Starfire, who also looked away.
"Robin and Cyborg are right, Raven. You have been unusually harsh towards our green friend for some time now. I too shall refrain from speaking to you for the time being."
With that, the three teens left Raven alone, shocked beyond belief and doorless.
Several minutes passed before she snapped out of it. Sighing, the half demon chanted for a moment, reciting a repairing spell. Within moments her door had fixed and reinstalled itself. She sat on the bed, confused.
Why am I feeling sad?
The common room door slid open, but Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg paid no attention to it until a voice spoke up softly.
"Okay, you win. I'll apologize."
Cyborg snorted and turned towards the voice. "It took you a week just to get the courage to…"
He trailed off, causing Robin and Starfire to look up.
Raven was standing the doorway, looking very haggard and disheveled. Dark circles under her bloodshot eyes, unkempt hair, shoulders sagging, and uniform rather wrinkled, Raven was the picture of someone who was miserable beyond belief.
"Friend Raven, what is wrong with you?" Starfire's eyes popped open and she flew to her friend. Robin and Cyborg followed a tad reluctantly. Their friends' eyes were planted on the floor.
"I can't stop thinking about what you said." She mumbled. "I can't sleep, I can't meditate, I can't focus…nothing. I can't do it."
Raven looked up at Cyborg. "I really messed up, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did." He said firmly. "Whenever B messes up with you, he tries really hard to apologize. The morning you yelled at him he was making breakfast for you, trying to apologize about your book."
Raven visibly flinched, which showed just how much this affected her. She looked around, trying to find her distraught friend.
"He's not here." Robin said quietly. "He's out in the city again. I don't know what he does when he goes out, but he's out all night when he does it."
"You haven't been able to track him?"
Robin shook his head. "Believe it or not, he's remarkably talented at hiding when he's serious. Its hell trying to follow someone who can turn into a fly or amoeba at will."
Her shoulders sagged even more, but she nodded anyways. "Okay, I'll go find him."
"Wear street clothes, I don't want you getting jumped by someone who figures out you're powerless right now." Robin turned and headed towards the door.
Raven's head jerked up to look at him. "How did you know…?"
Her friend and team leader stopped and threw a glance over his shoulder. "Beast Boy was the first one to notice years ago when we formed the team. He's almost always the first one to notice when something is wrong with you, truth be told. Why do you think he's always pestering you, Raven?"
Raven had nothing to say as Robin left the room, followed closely by Starfire. Cyborg remained where he was, staring at her miserable face.
"Go change, Raven. I'll take you into town, but you're the one finding him." He said softly but firmly.
She had been looking for him for six hours straight now with no success. No one had seen a green boy with pointy ears that day and she hadn't been able to detect his aura even once. Stopping at a café, she bought a hot tea to try to calm her nerves only to find out she wasn't thirsty.
The teen girl was sitting with her head in her hands and her tea relatively untouched when she heard a passing conversation that became very interesting very quickly.
"Did you hear?" A petite oriental girl nudged her thicker blonde friend in the arm. "Echo Echo is playing tonight and they got that guy with green hands playing again."
Raven's head snapped up and she looked at the girls, who were drawing farther away. Practically leaping from her chair, she ran up to them.
"Excuse me, did you say a boy with green hands?"
The girls jerked around in surprise, the blonde raising an eyebrow. "Anyone ever told you eavesdropping is rude?"
Raven bit back a retort. "Sorry, but I've actually been looking for that boy all day. He's a friend that…I really need to apologize to."
The two girls peered suspiciously at the girl in front of them. She was wearing a dark blue hoodie, the top over her head despite the warm day, black pants, and some funny looking boots. Her violet eyes peered out from under the hood, pleading for the information.
The blonde checked her watch. "The show starts in two hours. Be here and you can follow us to Hub."
"Hub?" Raven quirked an eyebrow.
"Hidden Underground Bunker is the actual name of it, but everyone just calls it Hub. It's a place for…well, just about anyone our age. No drugs or booze either, the owner is crazy strict about it."
"Uh…okay…" Raven planted her eyes on the ground and swallowed her pride. "Thank you."
The girls nodded and left Raven alone to think.
True to their word, the girls returned two hours later. Raven silently followed them all the way down to the northern docks, the furthest point in the city from the tower. They turned slightly north and followed a street all the way down to the end to a small warehouse situated about a block from the water. There were a lot of people moving in and out of a staircase leading down into the basement of the complex.
"This is Hub?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. It's kinda like a club, but for teens like us." The Oriental girl nodded. "Your friend will probably be through the first door on the right going down the stairs. That door leads to a hall where the bands get ready to play."
"Band?" The sorceress's eyes opened wide. "He's in a band?"
"Some friend you are, not knowing he's the backup guitarist for Echo Echo." The blonde snorted and drug her friend away to some guys that were waving at them.
Raven winced but didn't follow them to argue. Instead, she calmed herself the best she could and followed the flow of teens into the warehouse basement. It was a terrifying experience, being surrounded by dozens of fluctuating emotions from dozens of people. She had never been good in crowds, never been good with dealing with other people's emotions, and most certainly never been good with normal people. This was hell on Earth to her.
And seeing as how she'd literally seen Hell on Earth once before, this was by far worse.
Somehow, she wound up in the middle of the crowd, almost dead center of a large concrete room. There was a stage at one end, which most of the people were focused on. Large burly men, the security guards, stalked the crowd constantly, searching for any kind of illegal substance or alcohol, or inappropriate conduct. Within minutes of standing there, the hooded girl saw three boys dragged out, one of which had tried to roofie a girl's drink. The other two were trying to sell weed and had been caught.
Raven shook her head and regretted it. The flux of emotions in the room was nauseating. Any excess movement made her stomach roll. It was just getting to be too much when the lights dimmed and some dude got on the stage. He blathered on for a couple of minutes about the lineup for the night, none of which interested her the slightest.
"And then for the last show tonight, we got Echo Echo in the house!" The guy shouted into the roaring crowd, his fist pumping in the air.
Last. Raven shook her head and sighed. I hope I can handle this.
Twelve minutes later, the first band started. They weren't bad…but they weren't good either.
6/10 She thought as they walked off the stage a bit later, glancing at her communicator. Half an hour had passed, to her surprise. Maybe the rest of them would go this fast?
A hand suddenly grasped her bottom. Eyes flying open and glowing with magic, she whipped around and sent a small shockwave at her offender. The young man was blasted back into the crowd of people, who gave them a wide berth.
"Touch me again and I'll send you someplace that even Superman won't save you from." She snarled. A security guard noticed the sudden opening in the crowd and came over to investigate. Everyone but Raven pointed at the guy on the ground, who attempted to flee. He didn't get very far.
Raven turned back to the stage, now with a lovely five foot diameter of empty floor around her. After all, who wanted to get close to the creepy goth girl with glowing eyes?
A couple of hours and several bands later, a young guy with a goatee and long hair ran out on the stage.
"ARE YOU GUYS AND GIRLS READY?!" He shouted into the roaring crowd. "HERE WE ARE, ECHO ECHO!"
The crowd started chanting. "ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO!"
As irritating as it was, Raven could feel the hype in the air and it was slightly infectious. She almost joined in the chat, but caught herself at the last moment.
The guy on the stage was joined by a black guy with long dreadlocks, who jumped on the drums, an oriental guy with short hair, who lifted his bass guitar into the air and roared at the crowd, and a person in an oversized purple hoodie carrying two guitars. He handed one to the long haired guy and Raven could see the green hands even this far away.
"Beast Boy?" She said aloud, trying to make sure it was him. The lower half of his face was hidden by a black bandana, the upper half hidden by a black skullcap and his hood was up over his head too. The only thing you could really tell was that he had green eyes in addition to his green hands. He plugged his guitar in and tested a few strings before railing out a short rift. The crowd roared as the singer and bassist joined in on the test play.
Within seconds the crowd had whipped itself into a frenzy, much to Raven's horror. The tide of emotions was stronger now and she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood just to try to center herself. Soon enough, the crowd calmed down as the band quit and legitimately got ready to play. The two boys and Beast Boy all started bouncing back and forth in rhythm as the music started.
She couldn't help but be surprised when she realized it was some kind of metal they were playing. She had only listened to a bit here and there, but it had never occurred to her that Beast Boy liked it. She thought he was into hip hop or rap or whatever it was called.
The crowd around her, however, loved it so much most of them sang along. Raven couldn't make out any more than every third word, but the people around her seemed to know every piece of the song. Not too far from her, a mosh pit formed. She watched teenaged boys and girls thrashing about, not caring who or what they hit, their raw emotions assailing her from every direction like a berserk tidal wave.
She was struggling to stay there and knew it wouldn't be long before she broke.
Somehow she managed to hang on by the barest thread as the band winded down to its last song. She wanted Beast Boy's forgiveness, but damnit this was just too much. She was breathing so heavily, fatigued from fighting the emotions around her, that she almost didn't hear the guy on stage talking.
"Okay guys, we're gonna do something a bit out of the ordinary tonight. Our friend here," He gestured at Beast Boy, "has been a bit down in the dumps lately and me and the other guys think he needs to let it out here with a song. What do you guys say?!"
Beast Boy's head snapped up from adjusting a string as the crowd roared once again. The vocalist and bassist ran over and grabbed him, dragging him to the microphone. He was shaking his head rapidly and struggling to escape when they reached the mike. Without warning, the vocalist yanked his hood and hat off as the bassist ripped the bandana away from him, exposing his green skin, pointed ears, and fang.
The crowd, Raven included, gasped.
Beast Boy had an upset look on his face as he turned to the vocalist. His voice could be heard over the microphone. "Really dude? Singin' ain't my thing man."
"It is tonight, buddy."
"Dude, what am I supposed to sing?!"
"How about that one you're always listening to?" The bassist popped his knuckles.
"I know the lyrics by heart but do you guys know the cords?" Beast Boy looked to the other members, who smirked and nodded. He frowned. "I knew something was up but didn't think it was this."
The bassist pushed him towards the mic again, where he sighed before speaking into it.
"Um, hey you guys. I guess the cat's out of the bag now, huh? I'm Beast Boy, of the Teen Titans. I'm not really a member of the band, I just fill in for the other guy when he can't make it 'cause of work." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "I really don't think I'm cut out for singing either, but Mike, Locke, and Bass seem to be delirious enough to make me take a crack at it."
He hesitated and licked his lips before speaking quietly into the microphone again. "If I'm gonna do this, I need to say that this song is gonna have to be dedicated to someone…someone who doesn't understand why I do the things I do for her. It's not one of our usual songs, it's by Smashing Satellites, called Waterfall."
In this moment before the song started, Raven watched him breathe in deeply and exhale. The emotions that came flooding from him completely washed over everyone else's and hit Raven so hard she actually staggered.
Pain. Hurt. Sadness. Grief. Misery. Depression.
Loneliness.
Tears were forming in her eyes and she didn't know why until he started to sing.
Nothing
You always say I'm nothing
Those words fucking haunt me
They do
Cast out
Make me feel like I'm a cast out
Always say that I am too loud
I am
The things you say always leave me
Drowning in tears
They're pulling me under
I'm a waterfall
A waterfall
Drowning in fear
It's pulling me under
I'm a waterfall
A waterfall
Drowning in tears
Crazy
Feel like I'm going crazy
Your games are quite amazing
They are
Toxic
Like chemicals you're toxic
Your poison makes my head sick
It does
The things you say always leave me
Drowning in tears
They're pulling me under
I'm a waterfall
A waterfall
Drowning in fear
It's pulling me under
I'm a waterfall
A waterfall
Drowning in tears
The things you say always leave me
Drowning in tears
They're pulling me under
I'm a waterfall
A waterfall
Drowning in fear
It's pulling me under
I'm a waterfall
A waterfall
Drowning in tears
As the last of the notes died away, Beast Boy looked around. Everyone seemed pretty satisfied with it, since they were going absolutely bonkers, chanting his name. He gave them a small smile.
"Thanks guys, glad you liked it."
He turned to thank his bandmates when the three of them walked to the front of the stage, staring out into the crowd. He followed with gaze to a ring of people looking inward.
He winked at the others. "Hero time, guys. Dibs if it's a pretty girl."
Up and over the crowd he went, having shapeshifted into an eagle. One good flap and he was above the opening in the crowd, where he dropped down to discover someone in a dark blue hood was kneeling, their face in their hands and sobbing almost uncontrollably.
"What happened?" He asked, looking at the people around.
"Dunno, she just started crying like crazy and then did this."
Beast Boy cursed himself for making a girl cry and approached her gently. "Hey now, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry…"
He kneeled down right in front of her and noticed her stiffen just a little bit. Tears were pouring from around her hands and it was breaking what was left of his heart.
"Come on, what can I do to cheer you up? Anything you-"
"I'm sorry Garfield."
Garfield Mark Logan, aka Beast Boy, felt his blood freeze and his mouth dry out instantly when he heard his name. Only four people in the city knew his name and none of them should have been able to find him so easily. Ever so gently, he reached out and pulled her hood away, revealing some rather unkempt lavender hair.
"Raven?" He whispered as the breath left his lungs.
Raven lowered her hands and Beast Boy flinched as he looked at her for the first time in three weeks. She was rough, to say the least, an absolute train wreck to say the most.
"What are you doing here?" He whispered again, feeling distraught that he had upset her again.
"I was looking for you." She said hoarsely. "I've been looking for you all day."
"Why?"
"To tell you I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I lashed out at you for no reason. I…I…" Tears started flowing down her face faster as it contorted to try to maintain some semblance of control. Beast Boy reached out and wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face in his shoulder, apologizing again and again.
"Look, Raven…" He started speaking quietly in her ear. "I know I can be a pretty shitty friend, what with messing with you all the time and stuff. I know I'm loud and annoying, I tell crappy jokes, and I try to make you eat tofu even though you don't want to…but if you're being honest with me about being sorry, then I gotta be honest with you. I don't know why I act that way around you, really. It's just that…well…I want your attention, but I can't seem to concentrate on anything long enough to do anything right. I'm always jittery when you're around, like there's ants in my pants and butterflies in my stomach. It's kinda weird since I can turn into bugs and stuff, but it's always that way."
Raven shuddered in his embrace as she tried to stop sobbing. "What are you trying to say?"
"I like you, Raven. More than a friend should." He sighed, not noticing her freeze in his arms. "It makes me stupid around you. And when I'm stupid around you, I screw things up. It really was an accident with your book that day. I know you love books more than anything, so I was gonna buy you another copy of that one. But I didn't know the name of it, so I was pretty much gonna play kiss-ass until I got the name from you."
"So breakfast…" She trailed off in a whisper, her eyes going wide.
"Yeah."
A few more tears fell from her face onto his shoulder. Beast Boy sighed again and spoke a little more.
"You know, Raven…I might be a fuck up, but I still try to make things right. I try, damnit. When you yelled at me that morning…it really really hurt. It hurt way more than Terra betraying us, betraying me. For a while, I seriously thought about just crawling under a rock and dying there."
The teenage sorceress shook her head quickly, still buried in his shoulder. He frowned.
"If I can't do that or do anything else right around you, can you at least try to understand me? I mean hell, yer like the smartest chick I've ever known and I've been around the freaking planet three times or more now. Honestly Rae, if you asked me to do things instead of insulting me or demanding them of me, I'd be more likely to do them 'cause that's how much I respect your opinion. I mean seriously, dudette, who else do I pester about important things?"
Raven was quiet for a long time as she slowly processed everything he just said. She felt exhausted, with next to no meditation lately, little sleep, and not much food followed by a hurricane of emotions via a crowd, then overwhelming emotions from herself and him. It was going to take her days to sort all of this out. She finally sighed.
"Okay Beast Boy, I'll make a deal with you. I'll try to understand you better and be nicer if you cut back on aggravating me so much. You know I have to keep my emotions on a short leash so that no one gets hurt and it's very hard to do when aggravated."
"Deal." He said instantly, then furrowed his brow. "Are you just going to ignore my confession?"
She shook her head again. "I don't really know what to say to that. Nobody's ever said that to me before and the last time I got close to a guy…"
Beast Boy nodded. "I know what you mean, Rae. Last time I got close to a girl…well, we both know what happened there. It's kinda why I never said anything to you. I want you to like me…but I'm just as afraid of rejection as yer afraid to get hurt again."
Raven finally pulled back away from him and looked him in the eyes. "Since when the hell did you understand me so well?"
He chuckled. "All I had to do was pay attention. On your bad days, when you're loneliest, you read romance novels even if you have another book you're reading. On your good days, when you feel best, you read philosophy and complicated stuff. On your 'meh' days, you read whatever you grab first."
She hesitated. "You…you really pay that much attention to me?"
"Of course. Why else do you think I pester you on the bad days? I don't want you to feel lonely, so I figure distracting you works best."
"Your line of thinking is terrible."
"I told ya I get stupid when I'm around ya Rae."
It was another long and thought filled moment before Raven spoke again. "I can get stupid when I'm angry, I'll admit that."
"I don't think you're ever stupid, Raven." Beast Boy gave her a little grin. "So…friends?"
"Yes, definitely." Raven nodded. He smiled at her and stood up. As he offered his hand to help her up, Raven felt a small twinge in her chest. It was a curious sensation, directed towards the green boy in front of her. It felt…good.
She'd have to explore this later while meditating. For now, she was happy to have her friend back and even happier to have his forgiveness. Still, she couldn't help but ponder that feeling. It occurred each time she looked at him, starting from their walk back to the tower.
It would follow her through the weeks that came, sometimes weak, other times fairly strong. She looked at him often now and realized there were many things about him that she had never noticed before.
For instance, while his hair was certainly messier than Robin's gelled spikes, it was far healthier. It had a natural sheen to it that made it slightly shiny, like new grass. Another thing was that he had four fangs, it was just one that popped out of his mouth. And yet another thing that she noticed was that he was remarkably good with kids, which became evident when Melvin, Timmy Tantrum, and Teether visited. He was stronger than he looked, faster than he looked, and while he wasn't the smartest cookie, he was undoubtedly clever and quick witted. He was almost as sweet as Starfire and far more reserved than she had originally made him out to be. To her surprise, she discovered he actually let Robin and Cyborg beat him at video games half the time. He was legitimately talented enough to devastate them at whatever they played, but he let them have their pride just to keep his friends happy. He was a half-decent cook but an excellent baker, he could fix basic electrical problems, he could sew, he could weave grass together to make hats and baskets, he could make homemade ice cream that was absolutely delicious too. He had an entire plethora of skills that she had never noticed and that he had never mentioned to anyone. He was, undoubtedly, a more complex individual than most knew. It only made her want to know more about this strange boy she thought she knew.
And then one afternoon Starfire made an offhand comment that completely rocked Raven's world and her speechless.
"Friend Raven…I have noticed that you tend to watch Beast Boy quite a bit these days. You often do it in a way that is very affectionate. Are you perhaps… in love with him?"