It was midmorning at Titans Tower, and Raven and Beast Boy were already arguing.
Raven had come down somewhat early that morning, and in an awful mood. She'd dreamed of her father again, and though she knew he was gone for good, it still freaked her out a bit. Then, while in the kitchen preparing a mug of tea, she'd nearly tripped over a stray game controller. She spilled most of the contents of the mug on the controller. Grumbling to herself, she grabbed a rag and began to wipe the mug off when Beast Boy popped out of nowhere.
"Hey!" he exclaimed. "My controller! You ruined it!" He ran to the damaged item and picked it up. It dripped tea. He tried to turn it on, but to no avail. "See? Now it doesn't work!"
"Maybe it wouldn't have happened if you wouldn't have left your stuff lying around," Raven muttered, walking away. It was too early in the morning and she didn't want to deal with anything.
Beast Boy turned to her. "Well, maybe if you watched where you were going once in a while, instead of being all gloomy and stuff, you'd have noticed it!"
Raven stopped. She knew her arguments with Beast Boy were always pointless, because he'd keep with his side until doomsday or when she relented and confined herself to her room, whichever came first. She usually didn't like to use her powers against other Titans, so she usually just gave him the impression that he'd won, just to keep him out of her hair for an afternoon. If she spent too much time around him, she'd begin to get angry, and that just wreaked havoc with her emotional check, and thus, her powers. But this morning, she was too tired and annoyed to really care. She turned to face him back. "If you would spend more time doing important things like I do, and less time playing those moronic games, then you'd not have left that on the ground," she said, and sipped what was left of her tea.
Well, their argument had started that way and escalated over the course of about twenty minutes. They had moved from the topic of the controller and onto other things about each other they didn't particularly enjoy. By now, the rest of the Titans had woken and had come down to see what the commotion was about.
"At least I don't make jokes and act like a foolish imbecile when it's a time for seriousness! When was the last time there was an emergency and you didn't ruin everyone's concentration with a stupid joke?"
Beast Boy folded his arms. "Yeah, well, I'm not mopey and dark all the time! I don't ruin the mood every single day! I mean, come on, it's just weird!" he chided.
Raven put her hands on her hips. "At least where I come from, that's somewhat normal. Where I'm from, it's not all that strange to meditate and read a book. But you? You're from Earth." Raven knew she shouldn't continue, but she couldn't help it. "You should be a regular human being. But who's ever heard of a regular green kid? How about a regular kid that can shape shift into green animals? I've never seen one. There's no one out there anything like you." She'd gone too far already, but the words just tumbled from her mouth uncontrollably. "You know what you are? You're a short, happy-go-lucky freak."
Silence. The hateful word hung maliciously in the air. The expression on Beast Boy's face changed from angered and annoyed to surprised and hurt. The rest of the Titans stared dumbfounded at Raven, who reached out a timid hand.
"Beast Boy, I-" she started, but it was too late. He was already running out the door and down the corridor to his room. She looked helplessly at the faces trained on her. "Come on, you know I didn't mean-" But the others had already begun to walk away. Starfire turned her head back toward Raven, her eyes teary, but she only shook her head and continue to float in the opposite direction. Raven looked to each of the Titans in turn, but none of them would face her. Feeling a sense of rejection, she began to make her way slowly toward the room of the boy she'd so deeply offended.
So she stopped at his door. It was slightly ajar. She looked down and noticed that, blocking the two halves of the door from meeting, was a small purple boot. She knocked quietly on the door. "Beast Boy?" she called softly. There was no answer. She gingerly picked up the boot on the ground and let herself into the room.
At first, she was taken aback at the cleanliness of the room. Sure it was a little messy, but it wasn't the tornado wreckage/ disaster zone Raven had imagined it to be. She saw another boot, abandoned in the middle of the floor. She scanned the room, but didn't see any sign of Beast Boy. She was about to leave to look for him when she noticed that his closet door was open, too. She tiptoed over to it and looked inside.
Beast Boy was curled up with his knees to his chest and his back to the wall. Both of his boots were off, revealing his green-skinned feet. He was scrunching and extending his toes and staring at them intently. He didn't even seem to notice Raven's arrival. Raven stood there for a moment, then slowly got down and sat with him. Neither spoke for a couple of minutes.
"Listen, Beast Boy," Raven began, "I didn't mean what I said back there. I was… angry, and I lost control of my emotions."
"It's alright," Beast Boy murmured, still gazing intently at his flexing toes. "It's true, though. I am weird. I am a freak."
"No, you're not!" Raven said. "You're just fine."
Beast Boy smiled a little. "Raven, I know you're just trying to make me feel better, but it is true. Robin's normal, just really good at stuff; Starfire's powers are normal on Tamaran. Yours are normal on Azarath. Even Cyborg can pass as normal if he wears a hoodie. Unfortunately for me, green isn't exactly the best color for trying to blend in." He cocked his head. "I'm just a freak and I'll always be different from everyone else, no matter where I go."
"But that's what makes you… well… you!" Raven reasoned. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone quite like you, in looks or personality. I've never met anyone so silly, or annoying, or strange as you are. I've never met anyone who could make me smile during a crisis like you can. I've never met someone who cares about his friends as much as you do. And…" Raven could almost feel herself blushing at this point. "And I don't really think any of that stuff is all that terrible."
Slowly, Beast Boy turned his head to face hers. "Do you really mean that?"
"Er, I think so." Raven had no doubts in her mind that she was blushing now. "Um… do you want your shoes back?" She held out the purple boot that was still in her hand.
He grinned. He hopped up nimbly, taking the boot and shoving it onto his foot. He pulled Raven to her feet before fetching the other shoe. "You wanna go have some ice cream? We just got this new kind- uses soy instead of milk. It's delicious!"
Raven smiled as she walked with him out his door. "Not a chance in the world, kid."