12. Injuries
"You're an idiot, Beast Boy!" Raven exclaimed, fingers crackling with dark energy. She stood across from him, shoulders taut with tension. "Why would you- I don't…why?" Her shoulders started to tremble and Beast Boy finally slid off the bed, approaching her.
"Hey…calm down, okay?" he said, gently resting his hands on her arms.
She shrugged him off. "Don't-"
He had let her yell at him for as long as she wanted to while he sat in the med bay in silence. She was upset. He didn't blame her. He would have been absolutely livid if she did the same thing he did. But he couldn't help but feel bad she was so distressed. He wanted to hold her but touching her right now would be suicidal. So he waited.
"Sit down," she ordered after a couple moments of silence. He obliged, not wanting to set her off again. "Pull it down," she said as she followed him, pointing to his ruined suit.
This was the perfect opportunity for a sly joke but even Beast Boy knew this was not the time. He bit his tongue and carefully peeled off the top half of his uniform, trying not to grimace, revealing a gash in his side. It wasn't too big and Raven had stopped most of the bleeding while they were out in the field with trembling hands and hazy eyes but when they got back- her emotions pooled out of her like the ocean during a storm.
Her hands glowed as she lowered her fingers to his skin and the throbbing pain he was feeling started to fade. A small, satisfied sigh escaped his mouth as he felt relief flood his body. He felt her tense beside him.
"Raven-" he started.
"Don't do it again," she said stiffly, pressing down harder as her hands shone brighter.
"I can't promise that," he said, watching her face.
She avoided his eyes but he saw her brows furrow. "I could have handled it," she said through gritted teeth.
Beast Boy snorted. There were too many people and it was too chaotic. Emotions ran wild while people had been scattering around in fear. Beast Boy could smell the panic and it was overwhelming. He couldn't even imagine how much worse it would have been for an empath. She wouldn't have been able to sense someone's murderous intent in that mayhem-
Beast Boy's hands curled into fists as he clenched the edge of the bed. They tried shooting her.
"I could have," she insisted.
"No," Beast Boy said firmly. "I don't care. You can't heal yourself if you're dead." Raven's magic faltered at his words. "Look at me," he said, pushing her hands away. She refused. "Raven, look." Finally she turned so their eyes met and he could see the pain in hers. She blamed herself. And she shouldn't. "I won't let anyone hurt you, Rae. Not if I can help it."
Her mouth tightened and he could tell she was holding back.
"Garfield…" she hesitated, as if debating on whether or not she should chastise him some more or…something else. His eyes followed her tongue as it quickly darted out to wet her dry lips. She seemingly decided on neither. "Well, you can't protect me if you're dead, right?"
A slow smile formed on Beast Boy's face. "Don't worry. I'm stubborn. No one's killing me off yet!"
Raven's eyes narrowed again, not liking his choice of words. She turned quickly on her feet and moved to leave the Med Bay. "Don't count on it, Garfield. I can be very thorough."
Beast Boy laughed, his hand drifting from his newly healed skin towards his heart. She sure can.
Author's Note:
Timeline: post (BB's) confession, pre relationship
As promised, here's another short! I love it when Beast Boy puts his foot down lol. Originally this was supposed to take place pre confession but I thought Beast Boy's words/actions were a bit too bold in a way.
Next one I'm thinking either a really small snippet with Starfire or a "continuation" of last chapter. Let me know which you'd prefer!
