After being away from the writing scene for 3 years I have finally managed to get back into the spirit again! This story was meant to be a one shot but as I started writing the story just flowed onto the screen. I will do my best to update as soon as possible, but I can't promise quick updates as I work full time.
Anyways, hope you enjoy the new story!
Chapter One:
Christmas was two months away, he realized sitting in his room. He had spent hours debating over the gifts to give his friends for the joyful holiday. Robin, Star, and Cy were all simple enough to buy for. Raven however, was always very difficult, mostly due to her lack of interest in things other than books, tea, or meditation.
Beast Boy rolled over with a sigh still debating over what to get the dark sorceress.
The past few years spent giving gifts hadn't gone very well, sure she'd been polite when opening his lame basic gifts but that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted her to be happy, not polite. To be fair she had reacted the same with the gifts from the other titans as well, which also bugged him.
He spent every waking hour of every waking day trying to make her smile. To make her feel included in their team building adventures. He went to great lengths to try to make her happy, though admittedly his lame jokes have had very little success, the changeling frowned at the memories of the times he'd failed in his goals. He sighed.
Movement down the hall caught his attention, his ears perked up, 'Rae's awake!' he thought excitedly. However he didn't move from his comfortable position, just listening to the soft sounds of her feet as they glided down the hall.
He glanced at the clock on his nightstand, 'Time for her early morning tea,' he thought lazily realizing he'd been awake all night.
Several minutes passed until the urge to see her grew too strong to ignore.
The Changeling rolled out of bed onto his feet slowly making his way toward the common room, knowing the dark girl would be there waiting for her water to boil for her tea. Giving him just enough time to spend a few cherished minutes alone with her.
As the doors to the room hissed open, sure enough there she sat at the small breakfast bar waiting for her kettle to sound, her nose stuck in one of her ever present books.
He made his way quietly into the room not wanting to bother her peace. As he neared the bar however she lowered her book and glanced at him.
"Couldn't sleep?" she noted taking in his disheveled appearance.
A brief smile lifted the corner of his lips at her perceptiveness and he shrugged moving to pull some soy milk from the fridge, "Got a lot on my mind," he answered vaguely.
She snorted briefly, "That's a first".
Pouring himself a glass of milk he turned closing the fridge and moved to lean against the counter across from her, in mock annoyance before dropping it and shrugging off her comment, not in the mood to play this game with her so early, "What about you Rae?"
Her eyes narrowed instantly, "My name is Raven, not Rae."
He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture as his raised the glass to his lips to drink, it only served to fuel her annoyance, he watched her closely as he did so.
The demoness glared back hoping her annoyance would ignite one of their famed arguments, but no such luck. He simply stood there watching her quietly until she sighed, "Fine, I couldn't sleep either if you must know."
She lifted her book once again doing her best to ignore his presence not wanting to speak of the nightmares that had awakened her.
"Everything ok?" he asked his voice laced with concern.
He wasn't surprised by her usual immediate response of, "I'm fine, Beast Boy." Which was almost always a lie, and they both knew he could tell when she lied due to the change in her scent.
Not wanting to argue or force it out of her the changeling set his empty glass aside and leaned forward onto the bar looking at her, "Rae, I wont push the issue just know that if you need to talk I'm here for you."
Her eyes lifted to meet his watching him closely, waiting for him to say more. When he merely continued looking into her eyes she felt a light blush creep up into her cheeks and stealthily pulled her hood over her head to hide her face, "Thank you, Garfield."
His heart fluttered a little in his chest, just as it had done since the day she first learned his real name. He always acted like using it bothered him, but secretly he loved it when she called him by his real name.
The green teen put on a fake pout just as he always did when she said it, and he wasn't disappointed by the small almost hidden smile that appeared on her face, "Anytime...Rae" He smirked briefly when her lips pulled down into a small scowl.
He so loved doing that to her, sure seeing her smiles were like a breath of fresh air to him, but being able to witness, and cause, the small amounts of emotions flickering across her face was even more stunning to watch, not to mention it was sometimes fun to get under her skin.
An instant later their eyes locked again both sat quietly observing the emotions playing in the others eyes.
Raven would never admit it to anyone, she would deny it to every single level of hell and back, but she liked it when Beast Boy showed concern for her, and sometimes she even enjoyed their banter and silent jabs at each other.
It was hard to believe the young man that now stood before her was the same young annoying child who joined them all those years ago.
Sure he still had his childish side but after the battle with the Brotherhood of Evil, he'd grown into much more. It intrigued her to watch him now. Again something she would never admit to, but she would often sit silently observing as he and Cyborg battled it out over video games or argued over which was better, meat or tofu.
They still acted the same but it was definitely obvious that the team as a whole had grown as well. The violet haired sorceress didn't know when it happened, falling for him, another thing she'd never admit to but it had happened. No matter how much she had fought against the feelings they were always there lingering within her mind.
She also hadn't noticed how quickly the gap between them was closing as the two were so entranced in the others eyes that they had both started moving, being pulled like a magnetic force. Out of nowhere the high pitched whistle of her kettle filled the air causing both teens to jump apart, Raven's powers spiking hazardously causing her mug to shatter.
Keeping her hood in place Raven removed herself from the stool she had occupied and moved around the counter to clean up the remnants of her precious mug before turning to pull another mug from the cabinets, a sigh escaped her lips as she poured herself a cup of tea. "Suppose I'll need to tell Cyborg to pick up some more mugs the next time he's in town," she muttered to herself completely ignoring her green team mate.
Beast Boy made sure to give her space as she worked, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. 'What were you thinking? Everything was going so well! Then out of nowhere you nearly...' He blushed furiously unable to even think about what had nearly happened between them. To top it off he didn't know what to say to ease the awkward tension filling the room. He blinked for a moment hearing her soft voice making a comment about needing more cups.
Before he could process it though she turned barely sparing him a glance before making her way out of the room, "My powers are out of control, I'll be in my room meditating if the others ask."
And just like that she was gone, leaving her green friend alone with his thoughts.
In the safety of her room Raven sat on her bed, her tea in hand scolding herself for allowing her emotions to get the better of her. She could hear Happy screeching in the back of her mind about how she and Beast Boy had nearly kissed making her want to bang her head against a wall.
She herself had no clue how things had gotten to that point. One minute they were chatting and teasing each other and the next they had drawn so close.
"You were flirting and you know it!" Happy yelled.
Shaking her head to suppress the pink clone's voice, she continued analyzing the situation. It was very rare for them to have such pleasant conversations.
When they were able to have them she always felt a feeling stirring deep in the pit of her stomach. An emotion she couldn't yet place.
The demoness sipped her tea before pulling her legs into the lotus position and lifted herself into the air hovering over her bed in meditation.
The changeling stared after her, his thoughts swirling after her comment, 'Exactly how many mugs has she destroyed when her powers go all crazy?' he wondered. He thought back to all the times he'd made her angry, on accident of coarse, well mostly on accident. Sometimes he did enjoy getting under her skin. So many times he could recall seeing Cyborg hefting in large amounts of new items that he'd had to replace. Not just when her powers were on the fritz, but anytime anything was damaged Cy was always on top of replacing it.
It wasn't until just then that he realized just how much his best friend did for all of them. Between keeping the systems upgraded and making sure everything was running smoothly. Cooking for everyone, even though he himself always had to prepare his own meals due to his meat free diet.
Before shaking away the thoughts of his best friend he made a mental note to be sure Cy knew how much he appreciated everything he did for the team then focused back on the dark girl that had stolen his heart ages ago.
"How would Rae drink her teas if she ever really did run out of mugs? I mean sure she could likely go to a local cafe but Raven hates public places. Not to mention, times like this there were few places in Jump City open for her to get tea," he thought aloud.
That's when it hit him. He thought of the perfect idea for her gift! He just hoped that he could find someone to create such a piece. The changeling raced to his room, pulling out a pencil and piece of paper to jot down his ideas for the gift.