BBRae Week: Day 1

Unorthodox Sleeping Arrangements vs Pining


It started with a book.

To say that Raven was addicted to the story would have been a vast understatement. The novel was one of those that had to be binged over the course of a few days. Anything more would have been sacrilege; not to mention, a total insult to the magnificent authoress and her wonderful craft. The book itself was thick and heavy, with font the tiniest, most legible size. Raven could not put the thing down. The hard cover binding was practically glued to her hands, and she was always anxious to reunite with it whenever the team would be called out to an emergency.

However, such behaviour from the empath was not unusual to witness, and thus, her teammates never made a fuss whenever she'd opted to ignore them in favor of fiction instead.

Besides, how could they even dream to compete with something Raven had always been so passionate about? Victor would even joke to the others that the empath had been born with a book in her hand, and Raven, who had been far too engrossed with the page-turner at the time, didn't even bother batting an eyelash in his direction. Although that in itself had been mildly concerning, Cyborg knew better than to press whenever the sorceress discovered such an engaging tale.

The book, at its very core, was a fantasy novel, filled with rich lore and mysticism, adventure, and romance. It had all the components necessary for an epic journey of the imagination. The author had both carefully and meticulously created a fictional world with varying races, characters, and laws, every one of which were designed with the proper love and attention needed to make a story absolutely captivating.

Where Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy had their videogames, Raven had her books. It was her way of unwinding during the downtime, and even Garfield had come to understand that throughout the years.

Thanks to all her teammates' newfound silence on the matter, eventually, the empath would come to participate in what she considered 'social reading'.

"You mean, you'll hang out with us while reading your book so long as no one bothers you or speaks to you, right?" Victor had clarified, folding his arms over his metal chest in judging disapproval.

Raven had nodded once. "That's precisely what I mean. If that's an issue, I'll just go to my room instead," she'd replied, her eyes still fixed on the page of her story.

Victor had grumbled something like an insult under his breath before Beast Boy clapped a hand over his friend's mouth in urgency. The changeling had been hoping against hope that Raven hadn't caught a word of Victor's mostly muffled outburst. "No, no! That's not an issue at all, Rae! Stick around!" He pleaded nervously, knowing he sounded desperate, even to himself.

Thankfully, she'd been willing to give them a chance regardless of Cyborg's poorer attitude, and, after the first few successful attempts, the demoness increased the frequency of which she adhered to her 'social reading' habits.

Currently, Raven sat on the sofa in the common room, her bare legs propped up on the cushion while her back pressed against the armrest, her nose buried in her book. Her eyes devoured every line, and she chewed on her bottom lip in nervous anticipation.

She'd reached a pivotal point where a heavily hinted romantic arc was finally coming to fruition between two of the main characters.

The male protagonist in question was written to be quite devilishly charming, and was evidently handsome beyond comparison, to boot. Descending from a lineage of the royal and elite high elves, he'd been bestowed with hair the colour of moonlight, and eyes like the golden sands of the desert.

Raven often found herself blushing along with the female protagonist during instances where he played the role of gallant, self-sacrificing hero. Her bare toes would wiggle and fidget over the plush cushion, and she'd absent-mindedly twirl a lock of her hair while reading a part that had the regal character effectively seduce and glamour the main heroine.

Raven could so effectively put herself in the young woman's shoes, that she had a hard time discerning the scene as a figment of her imagination at certain intervals.

One theme in particular that would crop up throughout the various encounters between the two characters, was the way in which the narrator noticed and described the prince's ears.

Raven couldn't help but focus on the flowery adjectives that were often used whenever the leading lady was left staring longingly at the object of her affections. They stood out, the way they were no doubt intended to, as these descriptions were littered throughout the novel, initially subtle before gradually becoming more of a prominent focus.

The prince was a high elf and a knight. He was also undoubtedly the main love interest with virtually no possible contender. His kind were considered one of the fairest creatures in the land, known for their striking beauty, demure mannerisms, and eternal youth. The girl, in comparison, was but a lowly dwarf, and although their stubbier ears were also curved to a point, they were nowhere near as elongated or sharp as their more appealing brethren.

Raven found herself trying to picture them, but no matter what, her imagination did not seem to do them justice. Not when the girl was so helplessly smitten, and Raven was left feeling…absolutely nothing. They were just ears, after all. What was so special about such a boring, simplistic feature, when there were eyes, lips, and hair to take note of instead?

Raven nearly growled in frustration at the next paragraph when it happened yet again, feeling as if she were personally responsible for her lack of emotion. She angrily slammed her book down in her lap, the hard cover smacking loudly against the flesh of her naked thighs, and echoing throughout the room.

"Yikes!" Beast Boy screeched at the sound, and Raven watched as he nearly jumped out of his spot on the carpeted floor in front of her. He'd been sitting cross legged, playing a racing video game when she'd startled him with the abrupt noise that her book had made. The younger boy ended up veering his virtual car out of control, and driving into a ditch displayed on the TV screen. He, too, seemed to be tipping over as he desperately motioned the controller in the direction that he wished his car to go in. Beast Boy gritted his teeth and furrowed his brows as he attempted to regain the top spot in the final lap of the race.

"I thought reading was supposed to be a quiet activity, Rae," he commented dryly, his eyes still glued to the screen, ever focused.

He wore a look of determination, and didn't seem to notice Raven narrowing her eyes at him. "Forgive me for being so intrusive," she remarked, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"It's cool. I think I can still get first place," he replied with a generous shrug, mashing the buttons on the controller with a renewed fervor.

Just as she was ready to chew his ear off, Raven paused.

Her mouth remained open, but her eyes went wide, and she found herself staring at the back of Beast Boy's green head in awe rather than anger.

It hit her like a hard, cold slap to the face, and it was equally as jarring and humiliating.

A sea of conflicting emotions arose within the empath before she gave a voice to their sudden urging.

Beast Boy's ears.

He had the ears.

Just like in the book.

Other than the colour variation, it was the exact same description, right from the highest point, down to the lobe.

Suddenly, Raven's face felt flushed.

Her pulse quickened, and her palms grew clammy with sweat.

She quickly lost track of time, staring at the shape of Beast Boy's ears, all the while he was far too distracted to notice her drastic change in attitude.

He had the prince's ears; Elvin ears. They were just as majestic, just as otherworldly, and just as tempting to touch. Something about them captivated her attention, and Raven wondered how she'd never noticed it before. Even though they were an emerald green rather than the Prince's golden tan, she still ached to reach out and run her fingers along the cartilage structure. She wanted to know what they felt like beneath her fingertips, and her hands practically craved the sensation like a missing sixth sense. She had to fight every impulse, every lurch that wanted to overcome her iron will, and it showed in the way her fingers danced nervously along the edge of her seat.

More than anything, Raven wanted to glide her tongue along the outside of one of Beast Boy's ears. She wanted to taste him, and the thought alone made her involuntarily shudder.

She could hardly believe herself; since when did she want to lick anything on Beast Boy?

"Uh, Raven? Why're you starin' at the back of Beast Boy's head?"

The empath jumped in her seat at the sudden intruding voice.

She was cruelly pulled out of fantasy land, and placed back in the real world, where Victor Stone regarded her with a look of scrutiny, and awaited her explanation with a pointed stare. The red light of his cybernetic eye bored into her, and Raven practically squirmed, hoping that, by some miracle, Beast Boy hadn't noticed.

"I-I…I wasn't!" She stammered, knowing how weak her argument was even before the words had left her mouth. Raven practically crawled away from her teammate's intimidating shadow, as if distance alone would somehow dilute the sheer mortification she was experiencing in that moment.

Cyborg raised an eyebrow at her uncharacteristic behaviour, reading her like an open book. "Sure looked like you were. Thinkin' about blowing his head up with your mind?" He teased. Then, his playful expression changed into one of contemplation, and he added, "Wait…can you even do that?"

If she weren't so flustered already with the fact that she'd been caught having strange fantasies about the shapeshifter's ears, Raven might have bothered to correct her friend on the matter of her abilities.

Instead, when she'd realized that Beast Boy had paused his game to turn around and observe their little ongoing exchange, Raven was suddenly still as stone, all the colour draining from her face.

"Rae, you okay?" Cyborg queried, this time more concerned than curious.

She never did answer him; instead, she had merely opened a portal, and disappeared to the safety of her room, fleeing the scene with her book hugged tightly to her chest.

The last thing either of them saw was the trailing end of her billowy, blue cape.

Cyborg appeared to be completely dumbfounded by the entire spectacle he'd just witnessed, and thus looked to the green-skinned boy seated on the floor for answers, his mouth hanging open.

Garfield, who was just as befuddled as he usually would be in such situations, merely shrugged before returning to his game. Nonchalantly, he surmised the only plausible explanation he could possibly think of in that moment; "It's the ears, dude. Chicks dig the ears."


-FIN