Heya guys amd gals, sorry this one took a month. I couldn't get it satisfactory until recently snd I was working on my other story Those Violet Eyes too, which is up four chapter from its hiatus. Hope you like this one!
When Beast Boy woke up, he was nothing less than excited to be awake. He was a man with a plan, a super duper splendiferous awesometastic plan if he might say so himself, to take Raven out on a date like she'd never been on before! He could totally get her to smile with this date!
He rolled out of bed, noting that his clock read 7:52, which was way earlier than he usually got up, unless it was for training. The first thing he did was hop over to his (rarely used) desk and open the top drawer. He rummaged around in there, tossing out old game pamphlets, candy wrappers, and faded receipts until he found what he was looking for: his old wallet. He opened it up and peered inside. Business cards for different stores (these he put aside to go in his more recent wallet), a few photos with some cute fangirls (these he tossed to the side, uninterested), a video rental shop phone number (stashed in his newer wallet too) and-aha! There it is! His Doom Patrol debit card! It was exactly where he finally remembered it being. He looked at the date on it, then glanced at his calendar on the wall.
I got about, what, two months before I need a new one? He pondered as he slipped it into his current wallet. Not that I ever used it for much. Don't really like spending Steve and Rita's money, even IF it's technically my 'allowance' for being their adopted son. But on the other hand…now I don't have to be careful with the weekly allowance the city gives us, now do I?
This was a cheerful thought. He wouldn't have to worry about spending money on Raven anymore, 'cause there was like a gazillion dollars in his Doom Patrol account. Heck, when he turns eighteen he gets what's left of his inheritance that his birth parents left him too, so money won't be an issue. He could get her some nice things, like flowers. Girls like flowers, right? Yeah. He could get Raven some flowers. Wait, he doesn't know what kind of flowers she likes. Maybe Starfire knows?
Humming to himself, Beast Boy pulled off his pajamas and put on a clean uniform. It was, in fact, his last clean uniform, which meant he needed to do laundry. No, wait. Cyborg needed to do his laundry.
He snickered to himself as he walked out of his room and into the hallway. Today Cy would start cleaning his room while he took Raven out on a date. It was totally a win-win situation.
Truth be told, Beast Boy didn't really care about the funny looks Thunder, Lightning, and Hotspot gave him as he skipped through the halls. He was just in too good of a mood. All he could think about was making Raven smile again. She had a beautiful smile and he really wanted to see it. He knew he could get her to smile if he tried hard enough. It was funny though cause, like, out of the gazillion jokes he'd told her over the past couple of years none of them had made her smile. Well, that time he and Cy had gone into her mind by accident had shown him that she did laugh at him and did like him enough to do so. She had also laughed at the very first joke he'd told when they all met. He wondered why she didn't laugh at him more often before yesterday?
Hey dummy, did you forget about her dad?
Oh yeah…
With that internal crisis solved, he wondered if Raven was up yet. He was hungry.
The common room doors opened and he hopped inside. "Morning guys!"
The first thing he saw was Robin's head snap to him and stare in disbelief.
"Beast Boy? What are you doing awake so early?" His team leader asked.
"Too wound up to sleep." Beast Boy chuckled as he made his way to the kitchen. There were a bunch of Titans there, several of the girls gathered around something he couldn't see. Red Star was pouring himself a cup of coffee close by, Pantha right next to him. He heard her laugh at something Red said. And standing at the stove was…
"Cy?" He said in shock, not believing what he was seeing.
Cyborg glanced at him sullenly and Beast Boy's jaw dropped a little more. Cyborg had been painted hot pink and had a black tutu glued around his waist. There was clown makeup on his face, a big red frown and a rubber nose included. On his head was a paper maché horn, painted white, with a jingly bell on it. There was also a unicycle glued to his butt and rubber ducks glued to the tops of his feet. It almost looked like he'd been hazed again.
"Mornin' grass stain. You're up early." Cy said before turning back to the stove. Beast Boy made his way to his friend, dodging around Speedy and Aqualad (who didn't look too happy for some reason).
"Dude, what happened to you?" He asked as he reached his buddy.
"Karma." Cy deadpanned as he flipped some bacon in the skillet.
"For what?"
"Yesterday."
Beast Boy stared at his friend, digesting what he said for a long moment before he grinned. "Guess that's what you get for calling me a liar, huh?"
Cyborg merely grunted and continued cooking. Beast Boy chuckled to himself. Once a sore loser, always a sore loser.
"So how was it?"
Beast Boy blinked a few times in slight confusion. "How was what?"
Cy glanced at him, eyebrow raised. "Your date with Raven?"
"Oh!" Beast Boy facepalmed. "It was great! Well, we did more talking than anything, er, well, Raven talked mostly and I listened, then we went to the park and ended up catching some purse snatcher that turned out to be, like, super wanted and stuff, and it totally killed the mood so we came back here and turned in for the night."
Cy's eyebrow rose higher. "That's it?"
Beast Boy nodded. "Yup."
"Not tryin' to be mean BB, but that's not much of a date."
He nodded again. "Yeah I know, so I'm gonna take her out today to make up fer last night."
Cyborg stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. "Do what you do, BB. Just treat her right."
"Don't worry dude, I got this." Beast Boy grinned and gave his buddy a thumbs up. "Seen Rae this morning?"
Cyborg jerked his head to the left. "She's over there surrounded by the other girls. Good luck getting to her."
"Cool. Don't forget to clean my room." He chuckled again.
All Cy did was grunt in annoyance.
Beast Boy looked over at the gaggle of girls and frowned. He couldn't even see Raven, but that was mostly because Starfire and Jinx were in the way. He could hear a lot of excited chattering amongst them, enough to make it difficult to understand what they were saying. His frown deepened. How was he supposed to ask Raven out on another date if she couldn't hear him?
Maybe I should scare them? He mused, thinking of all kinds of so called 'creepy crawlies' that girls usually run from.
Not a good idea.
Why not?
What if you scare Raven off?
This made Beast Boy pause. But…she's not scared of stuff like that.
She denied being afraid when we watched Wicked Scary. Who's to say that she isn't denying being afraid of more stuff?
…huh…good point…
Just go over and talk to her. We don't have to be a goofy prankster all the time, ya know.
Ya think so?
Ayup.
Beast Boy hummed to himself again before making his way over there. The closer he got, the more he hear from the girls and the more he could determine via scent. Most of them were curious, one was in disbelief (probably Jinx), one was happy (obviously Starfire) , and one was annoyed (definitely Raven).
"Alright you buzzards, shoo! Shoo!" He said loudly, waving his hands at the assembled girls. As one the girls whirled around, surprised to see him up this early. Smugly he pushed his way through them to find an equally surprised Raven standing there with a cooling cup of tea. She smiled at him, making his heart skip a few beats.
"Good morning Gar. You're up early." She said, sipping her tea.
Say something cool and suave.
Suave? Like the shampoo?
No you dumbass, something romantic-y and flirty!
Beast Boy said the first thing that came to mind. "Mornin' beautiful!"
Raven choked on her tea and he didn't have the faintest idea why.
"Damn, Beast Boy, it was only one date!" Bumblebee shook her head.
Beast Boy turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "So? Raven's a beautiful girl. If we're gonna go on dates and stuff, shouldn't I say 'Good morning beautiful' to her every morning?"
He got his answer in the form of blank stares, so he just snorted in disbelief at them. This isn't rocket mathematics: you got a pretty girl, you tell her she's pretty every day. Simple, just like he likes.
Of course, the immense blush on Raven's face made him remember that Raven isn't used to being flirted with. He chuckled sheepishly. "Heh, well, at least that's how I see it."
"I…don't mind." She said quietly as she looked away while tugging her hood up to hide her face. Without really knowing why, Beast Boy reached out and flicked the very peak of said hood, making it fall back around her neck. She stared at him in surprise.
"Come on, we're gonna go get breakfast!" He said, motioning for her to follow him.
"We are?" Raven with wide eyes. Beast Boy started to say yes, but that little voice in the back of his head spoke up again.
Dude, ASK her out, don't TELL her you're going out. Focus, stupid, focus!
"Uh, well…do you wanna get breakfast with me?" Beast Boy asked, thinking it really was better this way after a quick consideration.
"I would love to." Raven replied, her smile widening. "Where are we going?"
"Waffle House!" Beast Boy said proudly. He knew Raven liked waffles, so this would totally get him some brownie points. Raven looked at him oddly for a moment before she moved past him and dumped what was left of her tea in the sink. She rinsed her cup out and put it in the dishwasher, then turned back to Beast Boy.
"Ready when you are." She said, though her face was still a little flushed.
Beast Boy's grin widened considerably. "Alrighty then! Let's-"
"Woah woah woah, hold on a second!"
Both Beast Boy and Raven turned to look at Jinx, who had her arms crossed across her chest and an irritated look on her face.
"You went on one date, which ended when it was barely starting, and you're already going on another?" She asked, unable to keep the incredulity and irritation out of her voice.
Raven raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Is that a problem for you?"
"That's not how these things work! You're supposed to wait a few days before you go on another date!" Jinx spat. Beast Boy raised an eyebrow too.
"Why?" He asked. "Me and Rae have known each other for years, we just have to get to know each other on a personal level now. I've been trying for years to get Raven to open up to us, and if this is how it happens, I ain't gonna complain. Rae's an awesome girl, she just hides under her cloak too much for people to know. I mean, seriously dude, I know I'm not the smartest person around and I have attention problems, but even I know that going on dates with beautiful girl and getting to know her doesn't require rocket mathematics. Mountains and molehill, guys."
There was dead silence in the room for several minutes as everyone stared at him. He really didn't know why they were acting this way. Maybe what he said was too complicated for them to understand? He didn't know how that could be the case, he just made it all up as he went along. It felt right, though.
"Garfield…"
Beast Boy looked to Raven to find a fresh blush on her face. Why is she blushing again? He pondered as he answered her. "Yeah?"
"C-can we just go?" She stammered, looking at the floor and fidgeting with the hem of her cloak.
"Sure." He replied. She's kinda cute like that.
They then sank into the floor via Raven's magic, but not before Beast Boy heard several things.
"You hear that, Kid? Raven is getting a second date."
"I…uh…um…"
"Are you not happy for our friends, Robin? They are going on a date. It sounds like so much fun, don't you think?"
"I…uh…um…"
They reappeared in the park, towards the northern end this time. This is where the restaurants were, including the obligatory Mom and Pops diners, Olive Garden (he needed to take Raven there one day), and Chuck E. Cheese.
"Are you sure you want to eat at Waffle House?" Raven asked. "I don't know if they'd have vegetarian food…"
Beast Boy grinned. "Even if they don't, they have waffles!"
Raven glanced at him before she shook her head with another smile. "You're just brown-nosing now, aren't you?"
"What can I say, you have a nice butt." Beast Boy laughed.
Then he realized what he said.
CHRIST, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!
You sir, are an idiot.
Beast Boy gulped and glanced at Raven, who was…hiding beneath her cloak? He couldn't see anything of her face but those pretty eyes of hers and they looked kind of…sad? Why?
"Uh…Rae? I didn't mean it like that, I was just kidding around." He said nervously. He really hoped he hadn't just offended her by being a perv. He totally wasn't a pervert. Well, he didn't think he was one, even though he had rubbed more than a few out over the years thinking about Raven.
"I don't have a nice butt." Raven said softly. "Its…flabby."
"Huh?" Beast Boy said, leaning closer. "Flabby?"
Raven suddenly shook her head and the sadness vanished. "Nevermind. Come along, lets go eat."
Beast Boy hesitated for a moment and wondered what that was all about. Could it be one of those body image issues she had? Maybe he should compliment her more…
With that thought in mind, he followed her all the way up to Waffle House, though he darted in front of her to open the door. She gave him a little smile before entering. Once inside, they chose a corner booth away from everyone else. It gave them a little privacy, at least until the waitress came over.
"Why hello there! Never thought I'd see a Teen Titan come in here, let alone two!" She said. She was an older woman, thick with blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail and a little too much make up on. Her nametag read Peggy. "What can I get you?"
"Two waffles, toast, and a plate of hashbrowns, crispy!" Beast Boy said as he looked over the menu. "And orange juice to drink!"
"Alrighty darlin'." Peggy said as she jotted his order down on a little notebook. She looked at Raven. "What about you, Miss Raven?"
Raven, who was still looking at the menu, responded slowly. "How about…the two eggs…scrambled with cheese…toast…and a side of bacon?"
"Alrighty. What do you want to drink?"
Raven looked up hopefully. "I don't suppose you have tea to drink, do you?"
Peggy smiled. "Why of course! All Waffle Houses carry sweet tea!"
The empath furrowed her brow. "That's not real-"
But Peggy had already zipped off, giving their order to the cook and bustling about with other customers. Raven watched her for a moment before frowning and sighing in annoyance.
"Sweet tea ain't that bad, Rae." Beast Boy said with a chuckle.
"Says you." Raven huffed.
Beast Boy laughed this time and Raven just rolled her eyes.
"So, whaddaya wanna talk about today?" He asked a moment later as he looked around the diner.
"Honestly? I don't know. I wasn't expecting another date so soon." Raven admitted sheepishly.
Beast Boy looked back at her, a little surprised. "Really? Why?"
"Well…" She hesitated, then gave a little shrug as she looked away. "My thinking was along the lines of what Jinx was saying. I figured you wouldn't want another date for a few days if I was lucky, since ours was cut short last night."
Beast Boy shrugged in turn. "Nah, I'm used to crime interrupting stuff we're doing at home, so I can get used to it interrupting our dates."
Raven looked sharply at him. "Dates? As in, plural form? More than one or two?"
He gave her a big cheeky smile. "Sure, why not! I don't have a reason to say no to a pretty girl like you, Rae."
Raven's cheeks colored and she looked down at the table. "I can't tell if you're calling me pretty because you mean it or if you're just brown nosing…" She murmured.
"A bit of both." Beast Boy laughed. Raven's blush darkened a little, but their attention was drawn away from the conversation as Peggy returned with their drinks, then darted off to help a new customer. Beast Boy immediately snagged a straw and popped it into his orange juice, taking a good swig.
"Ah, tasty!" He licked his lips. He wondered if Raven liked her sweet tea, so he glanced at her and nearly choked on his own drink.
Raven's face was screwed up in what could only be described as absolute horror as she pulled the glass down. "By Azar, it's so sweet!" She groaned.
Beast Boy grabbed a napkin and wiped up the little bit he spilled, not bothering to hide his smile at her expression. He wondered if she knew he hated the tea she normally drank. That stuff was nasty as hell-
Dude, what if we swapped drinks with her? That voice in his head asked.
Huh?
Dude, you've seen her drink orange juice before and you kinda like sweet tea, so why not swap with her? She'll get a drink with breakfast and so will you, so its kind of a win win situation.
Beast Boy pondered this as Raven slid the cup away from her, a disgusted look on her face.
You know, dude, that sounds like a good idea. He thought to himself.
Imagine the look of surprise on Raven's face when he grabbed her drink and swapped with his own. She looked at the cup in front of her, then back at him.
He grinned cheekily at her. "Orange ya gonna say thank you?"
Raven's hand came up and covered her face in exasperation. "Garfield, of all the bad jokes you've told, that one might have been in the worst."
He couldn't help but laugh at her before reaching for the orange juice again. "Well, if you don't want it-"
He was cut off by Raven's hand as it snatched the drink up and brought it to her lips. He almost laughed at her reaction, but that too was cut off as Raven gave the straw a good long lick while staring at him. It was almost…sexual. But it obviously wasn't, this is Raven after all.
"How does that saying go?" Raven murmured. "I licked it, so it's mine."
"Sure is, Rae." Beast Boy chuckled. Raven gave him a smile that gave him goosebumps and they sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Fortunately enough, their food arrived soon and they dug in.
"Gar? Can I ask you something?"
Beast Boy looked up from his waffles. "Yeah?"
"Yesterday you said your parents died when you were six…so I was wondering…how did you end up with the Doom Patrol?"
Beast Boy paused for a moment before stuffing some waffle in his mouth. That wasn't really a story he enjoyed telling. Actually, he hated telling that story. It was nothing but bad memories of the darkest part of his life and he wished he could forget them.
But then again…Raven would understand what he went through.
"Well, for starters, my mom and dad were biologists that were studying reverse evolution, trying to bring back extinct species and stuff." He said before taking another bite and chewing. "So, they traveled the world a lot and wound up settling in Africa, where I was born. They made-"
"Wait wait wait wait." Raven interrupted him, a surprised look on her face. "You're from Africa?"
Beast Boy nodded. "Yep. Born and raised there for the first ten years of my life."
Raven shook her head. "Wow, I wasn't aware you weren't from the US."
Beast Boy shrugged as he took another bite of waffle. "That's 'cause you're the first person to know."
"I see…" Raven said slowly before biting into a piece of toast. When she didn't continue, he did.
"Yeah, so…my parents traveled a lot, so they made a lot of friends. One of them was the chieftain of a tribe near where we lived. One of this tribesmen came by every few days to check on us, 'cause both my parents knew medicine and stuff, which made then kinda popular with the tribe. Anyways, after my parents died, I had no idea what to do, so I kinda just sat in camp and cried myself to sleep a few times. When the tribesmen finally came by I was starving and dehydrated, so he brought me back to the tribe. The chief nursed me back to health and I told him what happened to me and my parents, cause I only had my powers for about two days before my parents died." Beast Boy paused for a sip of sweet tea. It was good.
"How did you get your powers?" Raven asked.
"Eh, some weird green monkey with a nasty disease bit me, so my dad injected some experimental serum in me that turned me into a copy of that monkey until the disease died. Turning green was a side effect."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "That's…unusual."
Beast Boy shrugged. "I thought it was kinda cool at the time. Anyways, I wound up staying with the tribe for a couple of weeks until my Uncle Galtry showed up to get my dad's research report. Now, he wasn't really my Uncle, but he had known my dad for like, ever, so I called him Uncle Galtry. When he found out what happened, he went to our camp and gathered up all our stuff, then came back and got me. I left the tribe and lived with him for a while."
"That…doesn't sound too bad." Raven said as she ate the last of her eggs.
"Yeah, except that Galtry was a wanted criminal." Beast Boy pushed some hashbrown around on his plate, really dreading this next part. "I'm not gonna lie to you, Rae. He made me commit crimes for him. A little green kid who could turn into animals was a goldmine to someone like him. We poached endangered rhinos, stole from mines, robbed drug dealers, all kinds of stuff. It was…it was bad. Really bad. I watched him kill people. I watched him butcher animals and sell their parts while leaving the meat to spoil. I saw so many animal bodies just lying around that I got to where I couldn't eat meat without seeing one of them and then seeing me laying on the ground in their place. Galtry didn't care though. All he cared about was money. And telling Galtry 'No' was a bad idea, especially if he was drunk. I can't tell you how many times he broke a bone or two before I learned how to just say yes sir."
He glanced up to see her staring at him slack jawed. He just shrugged again.
"I know, I could have left. But I didn't have anywhere else to go. And who would want a green kid anyways? I used to get so many nasty looks and curses thrown my ways that you'd think I was carrying the plague or something. And this went on for about four years before…" He trailed off, his mind recoiling from the memories up next. He couldn't suppress a shudder and a grimace, both of which he was sure Raven saw.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Raven said softly, one hand coming up to grasp one of his. "I won't force you, let alone ask you, to bring up something that I can sense causes you so much pain."
He gave her a little smile. "Thanks Rae. Anyways, uh…I was about ten and a half when the Doom Patrol moved into a mansion nearby from where I was living. When I saw that they were superheroes and metahumans just like me, I knew I had to join them. So I snuck out over and over again and pestered them whenever I could. Eventually, though, I got caught sneaking out. I got punished….harshly. So much so that Mento to felt my pain from their house and stormed over and rescued me. Soon after that, I was in their custody. And well…you can guess the rest."
Raven gave him a little nod and planted her eyes on her food as they continued eating in silence. Her hand never left his, but he wasn't complaining. Her hand was soft and felt kinda small in his. It was a nice feeling. It wasn't until they were done eating that Raven spoke again.
"You've hid a lot of pain behind that smile." She murmured. "I've always known that you weren't telling us things about yourself, but I thought it was something lighter, like you were a bullying victim. I never thought that you had been through so much…"
"I don't like talking about it." He admitted as he idly ran his thumb across Raven's. "It's a very serious thing, and I don't like being serious."
"I understand."
Beast Boy couldn't help but to give Raven a smile. He knew she would understand what he was saying without him saying it. She'd been through enough that she knew what he had gone through, even if it was different from what she'd experienced.
"Gar." She said suddenly. "Lets go do something fun."
He raised an eyebrow. "Your fun or my fun?"
"Your fun." Raven gave him another smile, this one so warm that he felt his heart skip a beat. " I've had a distinctive lack of fun in my life, so I need someone to teach me how. I can't promise I'll enjoy everything, but I am willing to try anything at least once."
Beast Boy felt his smile grow. "Say no more, Rae. I know just the place to go."
They got up and paid for their meal soon after that, heading out the door and taking a sharp right. Beast Boy knew exactly where he wanted to go: the FunLand ball pit. He had never been in there before cause he could never get anyone to go with him. But now…now he had Raven.
And her hand felt just right in his own.