Pink Elephants

On Parade

)O(

Beast Boy stood at the kitchen counter, randomly flipping through a comic book as the microwave hummed loudly in the background. Across the living room the pause screen to his favorite game was filling the television, playing vague, half-whimsical music in the background as he waited for his vegan burrito to finish heating up. He reached the end of the book and looked up, staring into the quiet, empty living room with a little bit of remorse and a little bit of happiness.

He had skipped out of the team party tonight, and he felt a little bad about not seeing the rest of the Titans, but at the same time it was kinda nice having the tower to himself. He wasn't fighting for the television, he wasn't trying to sneak out of Robin's mandatory training sessions, and he didn't have to get into the overused, boring arguments about his food with Cyborg. No, he just got to hang out by himself, and it was pretty relaxing. He could almost see why Raven chose to stay by herself a lot of the time.

A small smile crossed his lips and he stared back at his comic book cover, trying to focus on the cover art and keep himself from dwelling on her too much. Lately she really had been trying to spend more time with the team, and he had to give her credit for that. He could only imagine how hard it had to be for her to come out of her shell.

It had been a slow growth for the past few months - one small inch at a time, but Raven was trying to be more involved in the team. She was still a bit timid, reserved, and quiet, but there was something different about her. It was as if her walls weren't so high and her defenses weren't so strong. One block at a time, she picked away her own armor until she felt more comfortable with being exposed to the team. Raven had even taken to spending time alone with him occasionally. It wasn't as if they had sleepovers where they painted each other's nails and gossiped about their favorite boy bands, but there was a real, strong connection growing between them.

And he kinda liked it.

The microwave dinged behind him and he picked his head up again, shaking the cobwebs from his thoughts as he grabbed the nuclear-hot burrito. Raven was a teammate and one of his closest friends, he really shouldn't be thinking about her like that. But, still... it was kind of a nice thought - thinking that they might be closer than just teammates. He chuckled at the idea, it took them long enough to be friends anyway.

He turned around to head back to the Gamestation and pick up where he left off, but a noise from the hallway made him whip around and stare at the door. A strange sound that reminded Beast Boy of hiccups mixed with giggling resounded from the other side of the door. He stopped and listened to the following silence, before a THUNK made Beast Boy completely pause.

What in the world...

Hiccup. "I… I think I fell…"

Raven? Beast Boy moved to open the door, and stared down at her form, sitting in the middle of the hallway and holding her head. She rubbed a growing bruise on her forehead and slowly looked up at him, blushing as she offered a strange sort of half-hearted wave up into his face. Her eyes were wide and glassy, and her cheeks were flushed a deep crimson as she took shallow, long breaths, trying to calm a sudden fit of hiccups.

She smiled and let her hand fall into her lap. "Um… hi, Beast Boy… you sure have gotten tall in the past few hours!"

Was she… drunk? Oh my god. He had never seen Raven drunk in his entire life, let alone smiling and giggling like a little teenager. He balked and glanced around looking for another teammate to help him out. There was no one else to be found, which meant that she had wandered home by herself from the party. Who in the world let her get this drunk and come home by herself? Ugh. He was going to find his teammates and give them a piece of his mind… just as soon as he figured out what to do with Raven. He sighed and continued to stare down at her, not exactly sure how to handle this situation.

"What in the world are you doing, Raven?"

"I think I fell…" She sniffed and tried to crawl to her feet, without much luck, unfortunately. She stumbled for a moment before falling back on her knees and holding her head in her hands as her body was consumed with another wave of giggles. "I can't find my feet… Oh! There they are! I found them, don't worry!"

"I wasn't." Beast Boy groaned and ran a hand over his face as he stared at the ceiling. So much for a quiet evening by himself. "Raven, how much have you had to drink tonight?"

Raven looked up at him, eyes a little glazed as she tried to think. "Yes."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "How much have you had to drink?" He repeated.

"At seven."

Another sigh escaped his lips and he leaned down to the floor, dragging her back up to her feet and helping her into the kitchen. She reeked of booze and her hair smelled faintly of cigarette smoke and sweat, like whatever bar her and the rest of the team had ended up in. How in the world had this happened? He led her onto a stool at the eat-in kitchen, and set her down, trying to diagnose how drunk she really was.

"When did you leave the party, Raven?"

"Five miles ago?" Her eyes flashed a moment of lucidity and she shook her head. "Minutes. I left five minutes ago because… because I had to pee." She giggled and pushed at his shoulder, trying to put space between them. "But I couldn't find the bathroom, so I opened an interdimensional portal." Grinning, Raven tapped the side of her head and nodded. "Smart thinking, right?"

"Mm… smart thinking, I guess." He pressed his fingers to her neck and checked her pulse, before leaning down and looking into her eyes. She would be fine after a few hours, but the world would be spinning too fast in the morning for her. Beast Boy sighed and walked to the cupboard to pull out a few things for her.

"You know…" Raven just continued to giggle, and she stumbled off of the stool to chase after him across the kitchen. "Under my clothes, I'm completely naked."

Beast Boy jerked and looked over at Raven who was suddenly standing next to him as he poured water into a glass for her. She was teetering on her tip-toes, and leaning against the kitchen counter as she smiled into his face.

"Oh come on, Gar…." She leaned over his back as he moved through the kitchen, and pressed her lips to his ear. God, she smelled like the bottom of a rum bottle. Her fingers tightened in the back of his shirt and she pursed her lips. "You normally get so excited when I make stupid jokes like that."

"Raven… It's just not funny right now." Not when she was two sheets to the wind and about ready to topple over in a fit of giggles. He rubbed his hand over his face and groaned, pouring her a glass of ice water. "What happened, Raven? You normally just stick to drinking Coke. Plain, boring Coke. So, how in the world did you manage to get so drunk?"

"Mmm… not sure." She tapped her lower lip with her fingers in thought as she stared up into the ceiling. "I mean, I asked for just Coke. And, well... Speedy - or maybe Wally - kept getting my drinks. They did taste kinda funny, but I thought maybe I just wasn't paying attention..." Her eyes widened and sofa pillow in the living room exploded under the force of her shock. "Do you think they put something in it!"

Uh, yeah, he did.

"Rum, probably." He handed her the glass of water and guided her back to the stool, setting her down in front of him. "Three of these before I let you go to sleep. And I'm going to make you eat some saltines or you're going to get sick later. Okay?"

She nodded and smiled, her fingers wrapping around the glass. Beast Boy groaned as she struggled with the glass for a moment, nearly spilling the contents over herself and down her shirt. Usually he was the one who needed her help after a team night out with their friends. Raven, while not always a hundred percent straight-laced, didn't usually get drunk because her healing powers kicked-in before the alcohol poisoned her system. To have her be this utterly belligerent meant that Speedy and Wally probably fed her a whole half-gallon of rum and let her go wild after that.

Great. He sighed and rubbed his head again, trying to control the urge to swear in front of her. Tonight was going to be so much fun for him, wasn't it?

"Jesus, I'm not even sure how you got so drunk. Stop fighting with the glass, Rae. You're doing more harm than good." He watched her fingers still struggling to hold the cup and sighed, taking it from her hands in annoyance. Was this what it was like to take care of him drunk? If so, he should really apologize to their teammates more often. He sat next to her at the counter and looked into her eyes, raising the glass to her lips. "One swallow at a time. Okay?"

She nodded and smiled at him over the rim of the glass, her fingers reaching out to graze over his in a featherlight touch. Electricity sizzled wherever her skin touched his own and Beast Boy was unable to control his blush under her rapt attention to him. It was like both of their defenses were down and they were both staring at each other's raw souls - hers a little broken, his a little annoyed. He forced a polite smile and glanced over her shoulder, trying not to look into her eyes and dwell on the thought.

"Thank you," she muttered between swallows.

"Yeah, yeah." He brought the glass back to her lips and sighed. "I'm really going to kill both of them tomorrow morning, you know."

"Awe, don't be upset, Gar. It wasn't really their fault..." She leaned forward, resting her hands on his knees as she pressed her face close to his. "And besides, for once in your life, you get to take care of me."

His anger softened and he was helpless to stop the chuckle from the bottom of his stomach. He ran his fingers through a slight knot in her hair and smiled as she leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering close for a moment. "I know, Rae." He made her take a few more gulps of water before continuing. "You probably like not having to play nurse for me anyway."

"No." She let him feed her more water, her eyes surprisingly honest. "I mean it's not fun always having to take care of you after a night out. But, I just like having you take care of me. It's kinda nice… knowing that you're paying attention to me."

Beast Boy blushed brightly and nearly dropped the water in his hands. A minute passed as he looked away, trying to hold on to his heart that threatened to beat out of his chest. Of course, she had to be this drunk in order to say things like that. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, trying to hold onto the echo of her words for as long as he could. Well, that was part of having a crush on an empath - she was never going to let her guard down enough to let him in.

But, still…

He smiled as she continued to struggle with her water. Maybe this was an opening for him to get a little closer to her? To close that last remaining space between them? Or maybe it was just a moment for him to be just a friend to his teammate in need.

"Just shut up and drink your water." He shook his head and fought against another smile. He watched her for another few minutes, and when he was sure she could manage the glass on her own, he filled the glass again and popped a straw into the water.

"After you're done I'll put you to bed, okay?"

She nodded and happily took another sip at the water through her smile. A minute of silence passed between them, and Beast Boy took the opportunity to wander away and shut off the television and find her something simple to eat.

"Sometimes you have to admit defeat."

"Huh?" He turned back around and looked at her, eyes wide.

Oh. God.

Beast Boy just stared, letting his head fall into his hands as he tried his best not laugh hysterically at Raven. She was trying to win a battle against the rogue straw in her glass, her lips and tongue chasing it around as she desperately attempted to gulp down the water he had handed her.

He couldn't really be mad at her, mostly because that would just rile her up, and he wasn't looking to start a fight with her tonight. And… to be perfectly honest with himself, she was kinda cute when she let her guard down and was just Raven. Although he certainly wished that her guard didn't have to come down like this.

Raven whined and stared down into her glass, pouting. "Did the straw defeat me?"

Beast Boy snorted and reached across the kitchen island to hold the straw in place until she managed to wrap her mouth around it. She smiled again and her lips brushed against his fingers with the movement. Biting back a yelp, he pulled his hand back as if he'd been burned, eyes wide with surprise. Raven just smiled as she continued to sip on her water, keeping eye-contact with him as she continued to drain her glass.

Beast Boy chuckled and patted her on the head. "Finish that up, and I'll put you to bed, Rae."

Her eyes widened and she set the glass down with a thunk, using the counter to steady her wobbling stature. A second ticked by as she stared at him with that strange, blank expression, and then another smile split her lips again. "You know…I think I like it when you call me 'Rae'!"

Beast Boy blinked in surprise, coughing a little as his breath seemed to catch in his throat. "Really?"

"Uh-huh!"

Beast Boy smiled. Well, it was certainly a day for firsts.

)O(

So, I started this hodge-podge of a project on tumblr and I've decided to turn it into something a little more substantial. It's nothing deep and really worth investing in, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. There'll be about four mini-chapters (roughly 2500 words each), and I'm hoping to get it all wrapped up by the end of October.

Anyway… thanks for being awesome, friends!