Number 35
Cyborg wasn't sure what had woken him up. His attention was focused on the increase of weight on his chest. Opening his eyes and glancing down, Cyborg saw a ball of green fuzz curled up into a ball on his chest plate. Cyborg sighed and moved to sit up, causing the cat to stir and slide into the space between the boys legs. Straddling the charging table, Cyborg watched the cat turn back into his little buddy. Beast Boy wouldn't meet his eyes.
This hadn't been the first, or last, time Beast Boy had visited him in the middle of the night. Nightmares were common for them, but they varied in intensity. Beast Boy's seemed to be right up there with Robin's, though the younger boy never once mentioned what they were about. Raven probably knew, but the empath didn't say anything, making the two boys wonder just how much Raven knew. Beast Boy sighed and moved to sit indian style in front of him.
"Another nightmare?" Cyborg asked softly. Beast Boy nodded but wouldn't meet his eyes. It had taken a while for his best friend to feel comfortable enough to come for help after a bad dream. Cyborg had a theory that his friend's former team had something to do with it.
"Hold on," Cyborg said, moving to get the blanket from the drawer nearest him. While he didn't get cold, his buddy got cold easily.
Laying back down, he pulled Beast Boy down onto his chest. Using one hand, he ran his fingers through the green locks, stopping more than once to rub against the spot behind the boy's ear. That always seemed to help calm down his friend. The other hand draped the blanket over the two of them.
Slowly the smaller boy drifted back off to sleep and Cyborg kept his vigil until morning.
"Are you comfortable, Robin?" Starfire asked again. In front of her Robin smiled and kissed her nose.
"I'm comfortable Starfire," Robin assured her, snuggling up closer to her in the bed. Robin was ecstatic that his girlfriend trusted him enough with this. For so long the others knew that Beast Boy and Starfire shared comfort from nightmares, and while the relationship between Raven and Beast Boy was still new, he was surprised when his girlfriend started to come to him for comfort.
Starfire smiled and began to trace patterns on his arm. It was moments like this that made him wonder how lucky he was.
"I feel safe with you, like this," Starfire revealed. Robin smiled into her hair.
"Good, you should feel like this."
Starfire amused herself again with tracing patterns on his arm. Robin was almost about to drift off when the girl spoke again.
"Thank you, Robin," she said softly, "for allowing me to feel safe."
Raven had been standing outside his door for the past ten minutes. She knew that he wouldn't care if she spent the night, after all he had the space, and clearly understood how awful nightmares were. But she still couldn't bring herself to knock on his door.
It turns out that, once again, Beast Boy was able to help her before she could help herself. The door slide open to reveal a sleepy changeling. Beast Boy looked at her before offering her his gloved hand. Raven sighed before grabbing it.
Beast Boy's room hadn't changed since the last time she had been in here. Clothes littered one side of the room, and the other half was piled up with boxes and art supplies.
"Wanna talk about it?" Beast Boy asked as he handed her a blanket. Raven frowned.
"You never talk about yours," Raven pointed out, but when his face fell, Raven regretted her words. He did talk about them, just not with her.
"Sorry, that was rude," Raven said. Beast Boy merely smiled, already brushing off her words like he had countless times before.
A few minutes later she was staring up at the framework of the top bunk. Beast Boy sounded like he was already back to sleep, but Raven wasn't ready to drift off yet.
Here, there were no monsters or shadow hands reaching out for her. No villains chasing after her. She was comforted by the thought that even if something were to come after her, the boy above her would get them before they could do any damage.
With the knowledge that she would be defended against any dream like creatures, Raven fell back asleep with a small smile.
"Thanks, Beast Boy," Raven whispered.
In his bed, even fast asleep, Beast Boy smiled.
Author's note: Here's another one minions. Read and Review! 8 Days till Christmas!
