"What do you want from me?"
It was a simple question. Simple and yet as soon as the words left Raven's mouth, Beast Boy found himself at a loss; his only recourse to echo the question.
"What do I want from you?" he said.
"Yes," said Raven. "What do you want from me? You come in here every day, bugging and badgering and pestering me, trying to get me to try this game or watch that cartoon or do...whatever weird thing happens to be coasting through your mind at the moment. And day after day I always tell you, no. And yet, day after day, you always come back. You never stop. You never want to leave me alone. So really, Beast Boy, what do you want? Why is it so important that I play Stankball version 2.0 with you or try out the special edition copy of the 'latest and greatest' Game Station 720 game? Why me? Why?"
Raven folded her arms and waited. And for the very first time since meeting, the two stood facing each other in complete and total silence. Beast Boy broke eye contact with her; his gaze drifted. He said nothing.
Raven harrumphed and turned away, shaking her head and surprisingly disappointed by the boy's lack of response.
'Oh well,' she thought to herself. At least she had finally shut him up.
...
Dawn was breaking. The alarm clock beeped, and a flopping, uncoordinated hand stretched out from beneath the covers to silence it. With her eyes still closed Raven rolled over onto her back. Sitting up she gave a yawn and a stretch, straightened her tank top.
Still groggy, eyes still half shut, she surveyed her room taking a small mental inventory. Nightstand, bookshelf, books, dresser, trunk, Beast Boy, vanity mirror, another bookshelf...
?
Beast Boy?
Eyes snapping open, Raven did a double take and found that, yes, Beast Boy was indeed in her room, standing just at the foot of her bed, smile on his face, acoustic guitar in his hand, harmonica held by metal clamps in front of his chin.
"Beast Boy," said Raven. She said the name calmly, before completely exploding. "WHAT IN AZAR'S NAME YOU ARE DOING IN MY ROOM?"
Despite her outburst, the young man's smile remained. His attention completely focused on her, he set his fingers strategically on the guitar strings and cleared his throat. He started to strum. The simple chords that followed filled the room and after a few bars he began to sing.
I ain't lookin to compete with you,
Beat or cheat or mistreat you,
Simplify you, classify you,
Deny, defy, or crucify you.
All I really want to dooooooo..
Beast Boy's singing voice was a raspy, nasally, slightly out of tune monstrosity. Something that, of course, everyone realized but Beast Boy. Raven had no idea what the green teen had in mind, but if it involved listening to him sing there was no way she was going to go along with it. Frowning her disapproval, she sat glaring at him for a few moments. When he reached the word "do" a note that he held and sort of howled like a hungry dog, she swiftly opened up a black portal beneath his feet. A split second later and he was gone.
Raven gave a sigh of relief. "I'm going to kill him one day," she said, only slightly kidding. She then went to her closet and retrieved a fresh uniform.
As soon as she was dressed Raven went to her door. It opened with a hiss and, once again, there he was. Strumming and humming away on his harmonica, the green boy seemed to have not missed a beat. As soon as he knew her eyes were once again upon him he continued.
No, I ain't lookin to fight with you,
Frighten you or uptighten you,
Drag you down or drain you down,
Chain you down or bring you down.
All I really want to doooooo..
With a small growl escaping her throat, Raven encapsulated the young man in a field of black energy, silencing him. She then carried him the short distance down the hall to his bedroom, opened the door and threw him inside with all the care of a sack of dirty laundry.
After closing his door, and with the halls quiet once again, Raven made for the common room. Her thoughts were on a fresh steaming cup of tea as the door opened and...
I ain't lookin to block you up,
Shock or knock or lock you up...
Raven's eyes bulged and her jaw nearly hit the floor.
"What the - But you were - I left you..." she babbled, her mind unable to process the information being fed to her. Clenching her teeth, her eyes turned red. As quick as she could, phasing through the floors, she made her way to the roof. In a matter of seconds she was face to face with bright blue sky and warm sunlight.
"Ugh! If I hear one more note of that stupid song I'm gonna-"
...Analyze you, categorize you,
Finalize you or advertise you.
All I really want to doooooo..
Spinning on her heels she found the changeling standing in the doorway, fingers still strumming merrily away as he smiled every lyric.
Grabbing the sides of her head, Raven screamed in frustration, the entire tower practically trembling beneath her feet. She slammed her eyes shut, focused. In an instant she was gone, teleported away, disappeared into the sky. Her destination was a mystery even to herself. All she knew was that she had to get away, get away from the green menace and find some place quiet. She flew for what seemed like hours. She flew as fast and as far as she could, finally settling down in a clearing in the middle of a thickly wooded forest far outside the city. There was a river there, a small babbling stream that traveled with a gentle hush along a rocky bank.
Finding the largest, flattest rock she could, Raven took a deep, calming breath. She was still flustered and frazzled but it was nothing a little meditation couldn't handle. Pulling in her legs, resting her elbows on her knees, she began reciting her mantra:
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos."
She sighed again and smiled.
I don't want to straight-face you,
Race or chase you, track or trace you,
Or disgrace you or displace you,
Or define you or confine you.
All I really want to doooooooo.
She couldn't believe it. Head spinning, eyes bugging out of her head, lips pulled tightly against her teeth in a half scowl Raven turned to find the green boy casually leaning against a nearby rock. Still singing, still playing, still annoying her.
Raven's eye was twitching in the most dangerous way as she stood. She marched up to the changeling and, just as he was in mid-howl, deftly snatched the guitar out of his hands. With nary a word, she tossed the offending instrument into the air. Black energy surrounded it and a moment later the guitar exploded into a shower of fragmented metal and wood.
After retreating a few paces back in the direction of the river, Raven unceremoniously plopped down onto her rear and folded her arms in front of her chest. She wasn't exactly proud of what she had just done, but at least finally-
Strumming.
Strumming, strumming, why was there strumming?
Raven's shoulders slumped and her face fell. Out of seemingly nowhere, Beast Boy had produced a second guitar and was already busy picking up where he had last left off. If Raven had a white flag she would have waved it. Rotating, she turned and gave the changeling her complete and undivided attention.
"Fine. Let's just get this over with," she said with a defeated sigh.
Beast Boy smiled and once again began to sing.
I don't want to meet your kin,
Make you spin or do you in,
Or select you or dissect you,
Or inspect you or reject you.
All I really want to dooooooo
Raven cringed.
Is, baby, be friends with you.
And then her eyes softened and her look of misery became one of genuine interest. Suddenly the boy's sub-par singing became secondary as all of her attention fell to his lyrics.
Beast Boy played a surprisingly pleasant solo on his harmonica and then continued.
No, I don't want to fake you out,
Take or shake or forsake you out,
I ain't lookin for you to feel like me,
See like me or be like me.
All I really want to doooooooo
Is, baby, be friends with you.
Beast Boy's voice slipped a little bit during the howl. Unable to help himself he let out a small laugh as he finished, 'Is, baby, be friends with you.' Raven could almost not help but echo his laugh as a warm smile spread across her face.
Beast Boy finished his strumming. He held the guitar against his chest and patiently waited for Raven's response
Raven climbed to her feet, looked coyly at him. "All you want to be is friends?" she said somewhat knowingly.
Beast Boy shrugged. "Yeah," he said. He blushed and then bashfully added, "Well...at least for now."
Raven gave a small nod. She walked the small distance to where the young man stood and looped her arm in his.
"You know," she said. "I think that's what I want too."
End
A/N: The song BB sings in this fic is called All I Really Want To Do and is written by Bob Dylan. The moment I first heard it I instantly thought of Raven and Beast Boy.
