Beast Boy sat up in his bed, sighing. Why did he even bother trying to sleep? He'd been changing forms a lot lately, and all of the animals he'd been had weird sleeping patterns. Strangely enough, the longer he was an animal, the more he felt like he was becoming like one. He found himself eating tofu without utensils, scratching his hair, and, most noticeably, staying up later and later.
It was a few hours after midnight, and he hadn't even gotten an hour of sleep. Oh, well, he thought. He'd just take a nap during the day or something.
He peeked his head outside of his bedroom door, but there wasn't anything unexpected. All the doors of his friends were closed, all the lights were off, and a lethargic, comfortable silence lay over all of it. He glanced at his friend's door enviously as he walked through the hallway. At least they could sleep.
In a split-second decision, Beast Boy trudged up the stairs to the balcony, hoping to at least find some peace there. As he stared up at the dark, blue sky, he was amazed at how he'd never thought of doing this before. The stars shined like gems, and clouds skipped through the sky like shadows dancing on walls. He wasn't great at stopping and looking at things for its beauty, usually, but he figured he should do it more often.
Suddenly, he saw a figure sitting at the very edge of the tower, seeming as if he would topple over if a gust of wind came by. But as he stepped forward, he corrected himself. It wasn't a he, it was a she. Raven.
"Hey, Raven." He said loudly, and from behind her, he saw that she almost fell over in surprise. Beast Boy laughed. "Ha, I scared you!"
Raven sighed, as if wishing to push him off the building. "No, you didn't." Silence. "What are you doing up so late?"
He paused, shrugging even though he knew she couldn't see him. "Just felt like staying up late, I guess. What about you?" He walked a few steps forward and plopped himself onto the ground next to her, even though she was floating a few feet above him, meditating again.
"The night is relaxing." She said simply. "I don't ever have much time to appreciate it, since we're always answering calls."
He nodded. "I know what you mean."
"Why are you up so late, really? I've heard you pacing around the past few nights."
A sly grin spread across his face. "Too much tofu, maybe." Still no laugh. "Well, actually, I just can't sleep. It's weird, it's like changing forms takes away my sleep." He yawned, rubbing his eyes. "I'm still exhausted, but I can't sleep. Insomnia, or something."
Raven lowered to the ground, stopping her meditation for once and looking at him. "That is weird. Maybe you did eat too much tofu." She said it seriously, but Beast Boy still laughed.
"Who knows? I should get a tofu expert. He can help me regulate my diet." He breathed air out of his nose in a kind of attempt to chuckle, but it felt like he was talking to a wall.
Beast Boy glanced at her as they sat at the edge of the tower together and took one of the only quiet seconds he had in his life to think. He knew people described Raven as cold, intimidating, senseless and heartless, but he knew she was just the opposite. She had feelings, but past experiences forced her to repress them. To him, Raven was someone different, and not necessarily in a bad way. He liked her distant and mysterious nature, and he liked trying and failing time and time again to make her laugh. They might've been as similar as summer and winter, but the only thing they had in common was that they were different. They didn't fit in as well as everyone else did, and to Beast Boy, it meant they had a special friendship. And he liked that.
As a cold gust of wind rushed past him, he shivered. "Cold?" Raven said, as if sensing his discomfort.
He snorted. "Isn't it the guy that's supposed to ask, and offer the jacket?"
"Yeah, well, you're not a guy."
He gasped, as if offended. "There's a reason my name is Beast Boy! Beast Boy, get it?" He grinned, folding his arms cockily. "Or, as some like to call me, Beast Man."
"Funny."
"A-Ha! So you do think I'm funny!"
She sighed, exasperated. "Shut up, Beast Girl, and go get a jacket if it's too cold for you."
Beast Boy scoffed. "You think I'd go all the way downstairs just for a jacket? You know me, Raven. I'm lazy." He stuck his nose up in the air defiantly. "I could just use your cloak-hood thing, instead?" He tentatively morphed into a cat and meowed.
Raven rolled her eyes. "In your dreams." But she didn't object as he walked into her cloak, making a sort of blanket from it. "Comfortable?" She said finally.
He just purred.
