Shut up it's Monday. It's the sixteenth. And also the seventeenth. I can see your sly faces in my mind. Stop looking at me like that.

Second Kiss: The first kiss went fine, but there's a bit of miscommunication for number two.


The first kiss was from Raven. It was a bit nervous, and she murmured, "I think it's under control" before she kissed him. The opal around her neck glowed soft as she leaned close, and he caught a brief glimpse of the shining, black light before he shut his eyes and leaned into her. She gasped a bit, but she held him. Nothing broke. Nothing cracked, though he could feel the power under her skin, pushing out and drawn back in by the opal, like warm drops of water moving under his fingertips. She smiled at him when she pulled away, tapping the stone around her neck.

"It works," she said.

"Yeah." He was smiling like crazy. "It worked."

She looked incredibly proud of herself and kept the stone around her neck whenever she wasn't in battle or training or using her powers for something else mundane. Aside from Starfire, no one commented on her new jewelry. Not even Beast Boy. That was disappointing. She fiddled with it around her neck, feeling the runes she had carefully etched into it. Had she not been clear enough? Had he just thought she was letting him know she had the ability to safely kiss him, not that she wanted to? Did he not know it was an invitation? It always seemed in movies and books that boys made all the first moves, but maybe she was being silly. Surely she could just kiss him herself. Were there courtship rituals against that?

Those thoughts continued for a week.

And then, one day, while meditating above the couch, her concentration was broke and Beast boy was standing in front of her, red staining his cheeks. "I'm a way better kisser than that," he blurted. She blinked up at him. "You caught me by surprise. If I had known it was coming, I would have done way better. Will you give me another chance?"

She stared for a moment. "Another chan…wait, are you telling me you thought I was….I didn't want to kiss you because I thought you were a bad kisser?"

He blushed ever darker. "Well, isn't it?"

"I was waiting for you to kiss me."

"Why would you be waiting for that?" he cried. "You're the one with the weird emotional powers stuff! I didn't want to try and kiss you and make you think I was pressuring your or moving too fast or whatever! I thought you were gonna tell me when you were ready for kissing stuff! And I thought you weren't asking because I was bad!"

She smiled a little. "I thought you weren't trying to kiss me because you changed your mind about all this, or you weren't interested in pursuing a…" She blushed, ducking her head. "A physical relationship with me."

He sat down next to her on the couch, grabbing her shoulders. "I love physical things. I want to do everything physical with you all the time. Say okay and I will kiss every part of you."

She shook her head wildly. "Just the lips, Beast Boy. Not-"

Whatever places were about to be put off limits didn't seem to matter much. His hands didn't wander, he just leaned a little closer so his chest lightly brushed against hers and kissed her. He pushed his mouth a little harder and soon enough they were making out, tongues pushing and sliding over each other, her hands sliding over his broad chest while his hands rested on the small of her back, cradling her against him. They broke apart, only for a moment, so Beast Boy could ask, "Good?"

She laughed shortly, breathlessly. "Yes. You're a good kisser."

Then leaned back in for another.