Beast Boy's Birthday Bash, pt. I

"I'm alive!?"

An admittedly odd way to greet the day, or pre-morning in this case, and Beast Boy didn't know why he shouted it at the top of his lungs immediately upon awakening. Further, he had no clue why he was awake at this hour. He thought for a moment, and suddenly remembered the dream he was having. Or did the word 'nightmare' fit better? Yes. Nightmare… 'You can be any pet Soto wishes? CHANGE!! CHANGE!!' - 'Terra, why?' … 'Maybe she wanted to keep you… as a pet.' Beast Boy absent mindedly rubbed his neck. The feel of the heavy metal collar had been so real.

THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE…

And he tried to, but instead found sleep trying to wash over him again, to pull him back under the tender mercilessness of his subconscious. He decided to let it. Hopefully, he'd have sweeter dreams this… go… round…

...

Raven sighed her relief into the emptiness of the kitchen as she felt Beast Boy return to his slumber. She hated using their bond to manipulate him like that, but she couldn't risk getting caught, especially not by him. Sweet dreams, Dearest.

It had been three days since their 'first date' and they'd since gone on a second, more official date with the full knowledge and consent of the team. He took her on a hike and a picnic through his favorite stretch of the woods. She'd decided not to tell Beast Boy that every time a mosquito landed on her bare legs, she'd cause it to explode. Annoying pests aside, she enjoyed herself thoroughly. And for once, that 'annoying pest' thought wasn't directed at her … friend? …boyfriend? …her Beast Boy. Just what was he to- think of something else…

Okay…

Sarah had officially joined the team, wielding a spear shaped device with an energy projector built into the shaft, -courtesy of Cyborg- and wearing a winged power armor that gave her the appearance of a metallic angel. This she worked with him on, both to get the measurements right, and because they used any excuse they could get to be near each other. Because she looked like one of Heaven's Host, she called herself 'Seraphim'.

Ding

Huh? Oh, that's right. Pay attention to what you're doing, Raven.

Just a few more finishing touches, then a simple charm and she'd be done with this leg of what she'd had planned for his birthday, which was tomorrow, but the team decided to celebrate it privately today, so they could have the big 'all-titans-everywhere-invited' party they were throwing for him tomorrow. Then all she had left was to wrap his gift she'd had special ordered, and personally enchanted over the intermittent time between that trip to the mall and now.

...

She was in the training center with him, working through a batch of repaired Slade-bots that they decided to keep for just this purpose. Of course, this was after Cyborg worked through the schematics and removed all those pesky and 'non-essential' additions that the villain built into them to keep his decrepit fingers in them. Now they were just training bots. With a face that inspired … focus.

Granted, Sarah never met the guy personally, so she didn't automatically hate him by sight, but after Victor shared the story with her –during an empathic link- she learned to hate him as much as the others.

One of them was attempting a flying kick at her. She braced the base of her spear against the arch of her foot, aiming the blade for the place where the base of the breastbone would be in something more human than their original master. At the moment of impact, she spied another charging her. Swinging her weapon, she dislodged the hapless flyer into the onrushing fool. One managed to sneak up and grab her from behind. Arms pinned to her side, she decided to slam her helmeted head backward into it's 'brow' causing a slight bolt of electricity to course through the suit, due to contact with the wiring beneath.

She was unharmed, because of the under suit she wore which effectively acted as insulation from all the things the armor itself didn't protect her from. Two more, each charging her from opposing sides, she brought her 'wings' in close, as if shielding herself from the imminent attack, but the instant her enemies came in range, she unfurled her wings, each would-be attacker catching a face full of metallic feathers, and knocked them back by a few yards. Note to Self: thank Vic for the strength enhancements built into the suit.

Just then, a flash of blue roared across her field of vision, coming from where the suit said he was, as depicted on the small radar in her heads up display. They had spent many an hour in battle simulations such as this, and they had made a good pair, each of them intense in close range combat, but with enough ranged capability to keep enough of their foes at bay to ensure they never become overwhelmed. At first she was shy and cautious, but soon found the warrioress within her.

A warning flash grabbed her attention. One of the bots had locked on to her with its gu-energy projector. She caught the beam on her wing, this time actually using it as a shield. A spear flashed through the air to land in the offending bot's photo receptors. The extra momentum stapled it onto the wall. She still had issues with guns. Bashing her foes out of the way, Sarah went to retrieve her spear, then turned it around and activated her own energy projector, emitting a purple-blue wave of concussive force and disabling the bot she'd seen take aim at Vic. He flashed a smile as they both went back to training.

...

Starfire moved beneath him, bringing Richard to the world of the waking. Smiling at the memories of the previous night, the man once known as Robin, Boy-Wonder, now called Nightwing, rose from the bed in her room, waking her in the process. Hadn't intended that. Not a problem though... "Morning, Sunshine."

"I have told you before, Dear Richard, that my name is 'Starfire,' not 'Sunshine.'"

A good-natured chuckle colored his words. "It's a term of endearment, my love."

"Oh. If that is the case, then a Good Morning to you as well, Moonbeam."

Not quite the 'proper' response, but it'll work. Sort of fitting, though. She's the sun to me, and I'm her moon. Poetic, really. He smiles at her as he walks through the door, returning the mask that he wears for the world, but not for her.

...

Beast Boy was lying precariously on the top bunk of his bed. Apparently, the 'sleep in a tree' instincts won out tonight, instead of the 'burrow into the ground' instincts that'd have him waking up under his bottom bunk. Or in a pile of clothes.

He twitched in his sleep. Not normally an incident of any great circumstance, but because of his position, this one twitch was enough to shift the balance he was previously managing. Unfortunately for him, it shifted him in the wrong direction. And after his body had more off the bed than on, gravity had seen its opportunity to do what it had spent all night trying to accomplish. Beast Boy awoke to the sound of a resounding THUMP, followed by a small pop.

The thump he was used to. The pop, not so much. Looking around his den-ROOM, for the cause of the sound, he spied a line of … one, two, three, -fourteen cupcakes. One had a candle in it.

Those weren't there last night. He stood, to get a better perspective. Green icing, purple letters on each one except the one with the candle. H-A-P-P-Y-candle-B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y. Happy birthday. I wonder who… Raven. Must have put a spell on them to appear when I woke up. She always was clever.

...

Minutes later, Beast Boy was licking frosting from his fingers as the last cupcake disappeared behind his fangs-TEETH, and walked into the Tower commons, to find Raven watching a documentary on the Salem Witch Trials.

She turned and smiled at him, both glad for his arrival, and amused at the sight of him sucking on his finger.

He looks so cute like that.

Guess that means he liked the cupcakes.

Just promise me you'll poison a batch for me, and I'll send them to what's left of the H.I.V.E. Five.

But, we don't know when their birthday is…

You're an idiot.

"The girls talking again? Or is the T.V. rotting your mind, too?"

"Both. I was wondering something earlier. What, exactly, are we?"

"Superheroes?" It struck him then just how much he liked the sight of her pinching the bridge of her nose.

"No. I meant: what, exactly, are we to each other?"

Mate QUESTIONS us? She's not our mate… yet. Maybe one day. I hope. "I'll answer your question with one of mine. How far do you want us to go?"

"I thought you said you'd take this one step at a time."

"I did. I am. I will. I just want you to mark the destination."

"We've been friends now for so long."

"It's not like that's stopping. We're still friends. Friendship's a good, stable relationship that makes a firm foundation for long-term romance."

"How long-term?"

"How's forever sound?"

"Don't promise me something you can't give."

Garfield just grinned at her. It's not time yet, but when it is, I'll have to tell her everything. "Then how's this: I'd like to spend a really long time with you around. I'm not talking marriage. Between your demon and my beast, that'd be a hard cake to sell. Besides, we don't need the publicity Nightwing and Star have. Of course, if Rachel Roth wants to wed her boyfriend, they could always elope to Vegas, or something…"

"Of course you'd turn this into a joke. You're lucky I needed the laugh."

"If you didn't need the laugh, you would've killed me a long time ago."

"Wow. You can be right, sometimes."

"I wonder who else could wind up marrying someone who started out wanting to kill them."

"There is this one guy in a series of books I once read…"

...

A few hours passed and lunchtime rolled around, after which, came the presents…

"Please, Friend Beast Boy, open mine first."

"Alright, why not?" Beast Boy held the box, and tested the weight of it, trying to guess its contents before opening it. It wasn't light, but there was no strain on his arms to hold it. He gave an experimental squeeze, and found that it yielded nicely… hmmm, I wonder… he brought it to his ear, gently shaking it. Faint rustling… Clothes? Paper? One way to find out. Using one of his sharp canine teeth, he made a small tear in the wrapping paper at one of the corners of the gift, then pinching one of the flaps he just created, tore it free of the box beneath, revealing the type of cardboard utilized in custom clothing stores city-wide. New costumes? Cool!, now I don't have to buy any myself. Sticking a finger in the space between the box and its lid, he tore his way around three edges, and removed the wrapper in one piece.

Then, finally, he opened the box to find three sets of two different kinds of outfits, with an order form for more of the same, or some of a different design, paper-clipped to a catalogue of other options. The outfits themselves weren't half as bad as he thought they might have been, one of which being a larger copy of the one he now wore, the other using a brighter shade of purple in combination with a white material that he liked the texture of. His only problem was with the shorter sleeves, but he figured he could wear his gloves with them and be ok, as his forearms weren't horribly scarred. Just, normally so. And he'd seen other guys walking around with as much hair on their arms as he did, so that wouldn't be a problem, either… and if anyone did have a problem with his looks, he'd just remind them that he didn't have to be a hero, he'd chosen it. That means he can look however he wants to, critics be damned. Except for Raven. He cared about what she thought.

"Thanks, Star. They're great." He said through his this-hurts-my-face-it's-so-big grin.

"You truly like it?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful!"

Sitting next to her was their leader, who silently handed him his gift. Beast Boy tested its heft as he took it from him, noting also how much it gave beneath his fingers. Bringing his other hand over to hold the gift more securely, he found that the other side had a gap in the middle as if it was wider at the top and bottom than in the middle. Exploring further, he found that this phenomenon continued around the two other edges. "A book?"