"Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling."-Edna Ferber

~#~#~#~

Brightly colored lights twinkled all around, staining the sky in a man-made, magical splendor. Raven let her gaze wander about the shimmering trees and flashing bushes, somewhat awed by the beauty presented to her. Even she had to admit, the light festival was indeed pretty. Though the word 'pretty' may have been an understatement. All throughout the zoo, trees were strung up with lights of all colors and varieties, and Christmas music could be heard in the air. Some of the lights were even synced up to the music, giving a rather spectacular show for the hundreds of guests currently milling about the pathways.

Raven shivered, digging her hands farther into her coat pockets. It may have been pretty, but Raven still preferred being indoors as opposed to meandering about in the freezing cold. But, alas, Starfire just had to see the lights, and Robin just had to make them all go.

'Team bonding', he'd said. Raven grumbled into her scarf. "Team bonding my ass."

The empath forged her way through the crowds, keeping watch for her wayward teammates. She still couldn't figure out how they'd managed to ditch her; one minute she was arm-in-arm with an excited Starfire, the next, everyone was gone. It was almost ironic, considering the whole lack of bonding the experience left.

"Hey! Raven!"

Raven turned to see a very excited Beast Boy appear from within the crowd, as wide grin on his face as he approached.

"There you are, we were looking all over for ya'!"

She raised a brow, pointedly scanning the crowd for their remaining friends. "We?"

Beast Boy shrugged sheepishly, and Raven almost thought he was blushing. "Well, I may have lost them..." His bright smile returned then, and he snagged her wrist and started dragging her forward. "C'mon, I wanna show you something!"

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Raven asked. She thought about freeing her arm from his grasp, but decided against it. It was too much work. At least, that's what she told herself. She totally didn't feel any tingling from his touch.

Preposterous.

Beast Boy came to a sudden halt, with Raven nearly colliding into him. She shot him a glare, only to see his giddy expression focused on whatever lay before them. Raven took this as her cue to look, and blinked in surprise.

"What's this?" she asked. Beast Boy turned to her, his perpetual grin widening.

"Candy Cane Forest!" he chirped. "C'mon!"

Raven stumbled after him as he tugged her along the path, the two of them looking about in wonder. It was a little section diverting from the main roadways of the zoo, with lights strung up above them in a sort of tunnel formation. Figures of candy canes stuck out of the ground, the metal frames covered in red and white lights. In fact, most of the lights were red and white.

That was probably due to the name of the attraction, if Raven had to guess. Still, it was surprisingly pretty, and Raven couldn't help the small smile that found its way onto her lips.

They came to a halt at a sort of gazebo that overlooked a small pond. The gazebo itself was covered in Christmas lights, much like the rest of the zoo, and there were lit up decorations in the pond synced up to Christmas music. To Raven's surprise, there weren't very many people around, though she could see some crowds milling about across the water.

Beast Boy finally let go of her arm and darted under the gazebo, leaning on the railing as he stared out at the pond. Raven followed suit, standing beside him.

"Isn't this neat?" he asked. Raven nodded, shooting him a small smile.

"Yeah, I can't believe there aren't more people here."

Beast Boy chuckled. "I guess no one likes candy canes!"

Raven's smile widened, and she snorted. "Sure, that's it." Her smile faltered at his awed stare, and she quirked a brow. "What?"

"You just laughed," he murmured.

"No I didn't."

His grin widened so much it looked like it hurt, and his eyes sparkled brilliantly. "Yeah, you did! I got Raven to laugh!" Beast Boy punched at the air, laughing infectiously. "Hell yeah! I'm awesome!"

Raven rolled her eyes, biting her lip to keep from grinning again. His laughter and joy were infectious, and Raven wasn't sure if it was just the lighting, or if he'd always been this adorable. Her eyes widened in realization at what she'd just thought, and the empath found herself frozen in place.

"Dude, I love this song!"

She was broken out of her reverie at Beast Boy's exclamation, and watched as he leaned out over the railing. The pond was alight with a dizzying display as the lights danced to another holiday song, one Raven vaguely recognized as a peppy, traditional tune. Jingle Bells? Or was it Deck the Halls? Raven didn't remember for sure. Still, she enjoyed the song, and leaned over the railing with him.

"This is nice," she said suddenly. Beast Boy glanced at her, his infectious, lopsided grin still plastered on his features. Raven blinked, her face growing hot. She suddenly was aware of how...close...they were. Their arms were a hairsbreadth away from each other; she could feel his body heat. Beast Boy seemed to realize this too, for his breath hitched and he stiffened, as if afraid how to proceed. Raven locked gazes with him, noticing how the lights reflected in his eyes, making his green irises seem just a little brighter.

Raven wasn't sure what exactly made her do it. Maybe she was just inebriated from all the holiday cheer in the air. Or maybe she was just losing her mind. Either way, she found herself leaning forward and pressing her lips against his. Beast Boy gasped softly, frozen a moment, before melting into the kiss.

The two of them kissed softly and slowly beneath the Christmas lights, and Raven felt like she was floating on air. It ended all too soon, as Beast Boy broke away and leaned his forehead on hers. "Damn," he breathed. "I-I wasn't expecting that..." He trailed off, wonder dancing in his gaze. Raven bit her lip and shrugged.

"Me either," she whispered, before kissing him again.

Author's Note:

Merry Early Christmas! XD This is a gift for ravnesque on Tumblr, as I had them for the Secret Santa thing. Hopefully it's cute, I wanted to do something fluffy. :)

Enjoy!

-vixensheart