Disclaimer: I own nothing here but my ideas.
A.N. This is just a fun, fluffy, little oneshot that I've wanted to write for a while now. I hope you'll find it at least a bit humorous. Please enjoy.
"Fruits of Persistency"
"C'mon, Rae! Please?" begged the changeling, clasping his hands together and giving Raven his trademark puppy face, complete with shining eyes and quivering lip. He picked up the video game console and waved it in front of her face, disrupting her concentration on the novel in her hands. The girl wanted nothing more than to rip the controller from Beast Boy's fingers and to throw it out a window, and yet, she refrained.
He had been at this for maybe fifteen minutes now, and was finally wearing on Raven's last nerve. After living with the boy for a number of years you would think that she was used to his antics, but he was a pro at getting her frazzled, and this time was no different.
Raven scowled, quite perturbed at the boy's persistency, and even more annoyed at the fact that she could not retaliate.
"For the hundredth time, no," she deadpanned, her eyebrow twitching slightly.
"But Raven," he whined, "I'm bored."
"Well, go find something productive to do," Raven said, her voice betraying a hint of strain.
"I can't. I'm not supposed to move around that much, remember?"
Raven sighed. Did she remember? With his constant reminders, how could she possibly forget? A few days earlier, the Titans had faced off against some street thugs who were holding up a liquor store. The goons were surprisingly good fighters for being such petty thieves, and the Titans had their hands full. During the height of the fight, Beast Boy had taken a blow to the skull, which had stunned him and sent him falling a good six feet from the top of an SUV to the ground. The boy landed hard, his shoulder taking the brunt of the impact. As soon as the thieves were apprehended, the Titans had taken Beast Boy to the Tower's med bay, where it was discovered that he had sustained a severely cracked clavicle and a fractured humerus. Raven had mended his injuries the best she could, but he still required a few weeks off for full recuperation. This meant no training, little physical exertion, and most importantly, no shape shifting for two whole weeks. Raven was both slightly offended and honored when Robin went out of his way to specifically remind her not to injure the changeling while he was recovering.
It was only the third day after his accident, and already Beast Boy was bored utterly out of his mind. He had resorted to bugging Raven whenever she was around, enjoying the fact that she couldn't inflict bodily harm upon him in his present state. It was like a game now, seeing how far he could push Raven before she ran off in a huff.
Beast Boy sat down on the couch next to Raven, bouncing in his seat like a little kid. When this got no visible rise out of the empath, he began to whistle a random tune while he fiddled with the game console, tossing it from hand to hand.
Raven had been rereading the same paragraph in her book for the last five minutes, and she was struggling to remain calm. If she couldn't so much as lay a finger on Beast Boy, the next best thing would be to just get up and leave the room before she completely lost it. However, she couldn't do that. Beast Boy would certainly see it as a personal victory if she showed that his foolery had gotten the best of her. No, she just had to stick it out until he got bored and left.
"Quit it," Raven demanded curtly when he began to whistle a very off key version of "Edelweiss" from "The Sound of Music."
"Quit what?" Beast Boy replied innocently.
"Whistling."
"Why?"
"Because I'm trying to read."
"Oh." Beast Boy was silent for a minute. "So, wanna play a video game?"
Raven snapped her book shut, her eyes narrowing. "Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me?" she demanded.
"Nope," he replied, flashing her the biggest, must obnoxious grin he was capable of.
"You know, Beast Boy, I healed your bones and I can break them again," Raven reminded him sweetly.
Beast Boy brushed off the threat with a chuckle. "Not for two whole weeks baby," he replied, punching Raven in the shoulder affectionately. He wasn't quite sure yet what kind of retribution he would be facing once his recoup time was up, but he was enjoying taunting Raven far too much to worry about it now.
"Why not bother someone else?" the empath asked in exasperation.
"Everyone else is at the movies."
"Why not watch television?"
"Cable's down."
"Why not play in traffic?"
"Because then I'd die and there would be no one left to bug you."
Raven looked murderous. "I don't want anyone to bug me," she insisted heatedly.
"But if there wasn't anyone to annoy you, you would get bored."
"No, then I would be able to read in peace."
"But you're not reading."
"That's because you're annoying me."
"No, it's because your book is closed."
Raven looked down at her novel, and her fingers clutched at the binding so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Raven could feel a headache coming on as she opened her book carefully, deliberately flipping to the page she left off at but not resuming her reading. She just couldn't concentrate on the words.
Beast Boy was still sitting immediately to her right, and was staring at her as she pretended to read. There was silence for several minutes and Raven finally began to relax, figuring that Beast Boy was getting bored and he would soon be on his way.
"So, whatcha reading?"
Or not.
Raven frowned. "A novel," she muttered, keeping her eyes on the page.
"What's it about?"
"An exiled prince who is being hunted down by assassins."
"Sounds interesting."
"It is. Now will you go away so I can read?"
"Nope," Beast Boy replied with a grin. "Ya know, I've got a video game called Curse of the Assassin. Want to play it?"
"No," Raven said firmly.
Beast Boy scowled. "You're no fun," he complained.
"Fine. Now leave."
Beast Boy shifted in his seat, making Raven a bit hopeful that he was giving up. She was disappointed when he only moved to sit precariously on the back of the couch and scooted closer so he could read over her shoulder.
It really annoyed her when people read over her shoulder.
'Two can play this game,' Raven thought to herself. She held the book half shut so that it was only readable from her vantage point, eliciting a scowl from the changeling.
"You're mean," he whined petulantly.
"You bet."
"Wanna read to me?"
"No. Find a book and read it for yourself."
"But I can't physically exert myself while I recover."
"Reading takes very little physical exertion, Beast Boy."
"You reading to me takes even less."
"I'm not reading to you."
"Why not?"
Raven did not reply, knowing full well that Beast Boy was just goading her on. It was best to retain whatever shred of dignity she could by keeping her mouth shut. She turned a page of her book, even though she hadn't finished the one before.
Beast Boy sighed, tossing the game controller onto the couch. After sitting still for a moment, he suddenly reached down, trying to take Raven's book.
Angered by Beast Boy's impudence, Raven swatted his hand away. Still the changeling persisted, and he finally succeeded in grabbing hold of the book. Raven yanked it free from his hand, which caused Beast Boy to lose his balance. He fell backward with a cry of surprise, hitting the floor behind the couch with a thud.
Raven's eyes widened as she quickly jumped up from her seat, mentally cursing herself while rounding the couch and kneeling down by Beast Boy's side. The changeling lay flat on his back, groaning slightly and clutching at his injured shoulder.
"Beast Boy, are you alright?" Raven asked, her voice betraying her worry. If the others found out that she had injured Beast Boy after explicitly being told not to touch him, she'd really be in for it.
"Rae," he said weakly, still holding his shoulder as he looked up at the empath. "It hurts," he cried pathetically.
"Let me help you back to the couch," Raven offered.
Beast Boy tried to lift himself up, stopping suddenly and drawing in a breath quickly as his arm moved. "I can't get up," he whimpered. "I think I re-broke something."
The dark teen's eyes opened wide with anxiousness. "Let me heal you," she offered.
"No, it's alright," he said bravely.
"Please let me," Raven insisted.
Beast Boy hesitated. "Well, if you really want to," he agreed.
Raven nodded. She carefully leaned over his body, resting both hands gingerly on his right shoulder.
Without warning, Beast Boy suddenly grabbed onto Raven's arm, using it to haul himself up. Before she could react, the changeling quickly cupped her chin with one hand and pressed his lips against hers in a chaste but firm kiss. Pulling away, Beast Boy jumped up with a laugh, grabbed Raven's book off the couch, and darted out of the room.
Utterly stunned, Raven sat on the floor and tried to process what had just happened. She blinked and slowly shook her head, a blush tingeing her cheeks pink.
"That sneaky rat," Raven muttered as she rose to her feet. She glanced at the couch, realizing that he had made off with her novel. Raven scowled, attempting to regain control of her ruffled emotions. Leave it to the changeling to capitalize on a healing injury as much as one possibly could. It was a talent of his, she'd give him that. He always knew exactly how to get the best of her.
Raven grinned sadistically. Beast Boy better enjoy these next few weeks, because when they were up, he would be paying dearly for his pranks.
A.N. There ya have it. I would love to hear what you think, so don't forget to drop me a review.
Thank you for reading!