Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. Also, there is a very mild trigger warning.
Chapter 13: Sleeping Birds Lie
Two weeks passed on, again, without a word from Slade. This, however, did not keep Robin from attempting to track his scent (or his lack thereof). Aside from this, waters seemed calm-as calm for a Titan as it gets. Calm for most of the Titans, that is.
Raven kept up with her cutting when her anxieties surfaced, which usually arose from the tension she felt around Robin. His grief and fear when it came to his obsession over Slade drenched her as an April shower. The boy wonder spent most of his time in the evidence room, taking a magnifying glass to every shard of evidence that they had on the evil villain. For three days he did not even emerge from the dimly lit walls encasing him, causing him to taken in neither food nor drink. With such a deeply rooted tension, which was so strong that Raven felt it in every part of the tower, the purple haired girl was kept up at night. If, by chance, she was able to sleep, however, nightmares of Slade, Robin, and the rest of the team, sprung her awake and in pools of sweat. After such unpleasant encounters with her subconscious (this being her dreams, not trips to Nevermore) she would spend the next long hours of night reading, meditating, and cutting. After going back for seconds and thirds, she would begin to feel hopeless and disgusted with herself, making her want to cause more damage to herself. On top of all this, the relentless nights she endured made her all the more irritable (as if she wasn't enough). The whole team (aside from Robin, of course), witnessed her more-short-than-normal temper-her mood was so sour that even Beast Boy eradicated his jokes and walked on egg shells when Raven was present.
On the beginning of the fourth day in which Robin had failed to have contact with the group, Raven staggered out of her room, into the kitchen and "the room of living," as Starfire called it. Dark gray puff bags sat below her violet, blood shot eyes. Her fuse, as all could tell, was slim to none.
As Raven walked in, she saw Starfire petting Silkie on the couch, Cyborg at the table scarfing down a large stack of waffles, and Beast Boy doing something near the stove. If she wasn't so worn out, the fact that he was up earlier than her would have taken her aback.
"Mornin' Rae," Beast Boy said, now taking a whistling kettle off of the stove.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY TEA?!" she shouted, enraged. Three light bulbs burst. Beast Boy didn't even bat an eye, he just continued to pour the hot water in the cup he had previously gotten down.
"I thought you would want some. So I made it for you," he said simply. At this, Raven felt embarrassed by her outburst and guilty that she yelled at Beast Boy. She stood there, stunned, as Cyborg and Starfire watched the encounter take place. As Beast Boy now brought down a tea box from the cupboard above him, he looked at his friend of metal, then toward the door as a signal.
"Yo, uh, Star," Cyborg started, his mouth full of waffles, "I have to head down the mall to pick up some parts for the T-Car. You want to-"
"I am calling that the gun shoot me!" she said, practically running out of the room in excitement.
"It's calling shotgun, Star, shotgun!" Cyborg yelled as he dragged his feet, following her. "You owe me," he thought, giving Beast Boy a knowing look.
"Here you go," Beast Boy said after they left, handing Raven the tea and motioning her to sit down at the table, to which she complied. The "green bean" sat right across from the sleep deprived girl, looking at her as she breathed in the aroma of the tea, then took a small sip of it.
"Thank you," she said abruptly "This is quite... nice. I'm sorry for yelling at you," she added.
"You needed something," Beast Boy's tone was simple yet again. Raven pinched the bridge of her nose and shut her eyes.
"How did you know?" she asked, now taking another sip.
"You haven't been sleeping. At all."
"How do you-"
"Animal hearing, Dude." This sent Raven's mind into a frenzy. Could he hear her when she spoke to her emotions? Could he hear them as well? Did he know the terrible acts she delved herself into? On the outside, however, she remained cool as a cucumber, merely raising an eyebrow.
"You can hear me?" she asked, monotoned as always.
"Not real words. I can't tell what you're saying, but I hear you fidget a lot," he explained. She accepted his answer and calmed herself. They seemed to remain quiet through Raven's silent sips, staring out of the large window.
"I can tell you're having nightmares, though," Beast Boy said abruptly.
"How-"
"I can just tell. I don't know how to explain it. But you just proved me right." The truth was, he could explain it. He could explain that he knew she had nightmares daily sense Trigon's presence on Earth, or explain to her that he had nightmares equally as terrifying as hers since he was eight years old, after seeing his parents die. Raven knew none of this, though, as the boy kept most of his past a secret, only giving Cyborg small tidbits here and there.
"He sounds so... adult," she thought, sitting with her as she drank her tea. "He didn't mock me, didn't try to make a joke about anything, and most of all, he's kept calm." After thinking about these points very briefly, she was brought back to the real world and proceeded to pinch the bridge of her nose while closing her eyes.
"Robin has to come out of that room, or every light bulb, window, and TV is going to shatter," she remarked.
"So Robin is doing this to you?" Beast Boy asked, trying to understand.
"Not intentionally. This emotions and disdain for Slade are SO strong that I can't shake it." Rarely did the empath add emphasis to a word unless heated with anger. The green teen rubbed his chin in thought. "I'll try to talk to him," Raven said, scooting her chair back to rise, but Beast Boy was quicker.
"I got it, Dude. You drink your tea," Beast Boy said, lightly placing a hand on her right shoulder as he walked by as his hand followed behind him. Raven pushed her self closer to the table once again, sipping away at her tea slowly, thinking all the while.
"Have I been that bad that Beast Boy is taking up the responsibility to pull Robin out of the dark hole? Where did such niceness stem from? When was the stem planted?" Question after question rolled into her mind as she felt Robin's emotions fluctuate, going from an angry passion, to annoyance, tension, and finally, defeat. Raven sighed as a 500 pound weight was lifted off of her brain; her sighing ended as she saw Beast Boy, followed by Robin, entered the room in which she sat.
"I'll make you something," Beast Boy said to the obviously tired and overworked masked bird boy. Robin took a seat to the left of Raven at the table, who was just finishing the last of her tea.
"You too, huh?" Robin said to Raven, referring to the lack of sleep that was obviously written all over her face.
"Mhm," Raven simply said, taking the very last sip of what was left in her up as Beast Boy sat a sandwich and glass of water in front of Robin.
"Eat slowly," the green boy remarked. Robin nodded and mumbled a "thank you."
"Where are Starfire and Cyborg?" Robin asked after a few bites.
"You were gone to long and we didn't want to disturb you. Cyborg got Bee pregnant, so we had to have some baby shower thing in your room. Starfire left yesterday. Said something about running off with some gypsy pack," Beast Boy said nonchalantly. Raven heaved a sigh and rolled her puffy eyes.
"They both went to the mall. Cyborg needed parts for his car. Starfire wants to see how many pink and purple dresses will fit into her closet before it explodes," Raven said. Beast Boy chuckled at her remark as he cleaned up from his sandwich making. Once finished with his eating, Robin stretched out his arms.
"Erahh, I think I'm going to take a small nap," said the boy wonder as he stood up and carried his plate to the sink, then walked out, heading for his room. Raven took her cup and she too put her dish in the sink.
"I'm going to read," Raven informed the green boy who was setting up a video game. He turned and picked up a book from the table behind him, holding it in the air where Raven could see. She levitated her way toward the boy, was handed her book, and sat on the couch two cushions away from him. She peeked over her book every so often to see Beast Boy's progress and facial expressions. It was quite evident that he was forcing himself to stay silent so the empath could relax. She appreciated his unspoken actions. Forty minutes later, he glanced at the girl, then did a double take when he noticed that she was fast asleep with the open book upon her face. As he arose to move toward her, he heard Starfire and Cyborg almost bust through the door.
"Glorious-" Starfire, who had about seven shopping bags in her hands, was cut off by the green one, who moved his index finger to his lips very quickly. "Oh," the alien girl mouthed.
"Robin asleep, too?" Cyborg now asked, seeing Raven's head limp on the arm of the couch. Beast Boy shook his head yes. Starfire dropped everything and flew to his room, silent once she approached his door and opened it as quietly as she could, but still awoke the boy wonder.
"I thought you might be wanting the company in your state of sleeping," Starfire said slightly more quietly than she normally was. Robin ran a hand through his black hair and scooted to make room for the alien girl. She took off her purple boots and laid beside him with is arm wrapped around her waist.
"We may start the napping, now," Starfire informed him after she was situated. Robin chuckled sleepily and pulled her closer to him, breathing her in before he went back to sleep.
Meanwhile, back in the living room, Beast Boy carefully removed the book from off of Raven, marking her spot before putting it back on the table which was now technically behind him since he was facing the couch.
"Two players?" Cyborg asked him very quietly as he laid down the book. Beast Boy nodded his head in approval. After doing so, the green tinted boy carefully placed one of his tone arms between Raven's neck and the couch, with the other where the knee allows the leg to bend, and picked her up bridal style, surprised at how light her body was. After making his way into her room, he laid her on her bed very softly, to which she stirred but never woke up. He got on his knees to cover her up with her blanket and moved a piece of her purple hair out of her perfect porcelain face while he smiled.
"She looks so...vulnerable," he thought to himself as he stare at her, "so...fragile. So tender. So beautiful. How gentle I would be if I was only given the chance." At this remark of his, he hung his head as if out of defeat, but quickly lifted it back up and smiled a sad, sweet smile.
"Dream well, Rae," he said to the sleeping girl right in front of his face and kissed the jewel on her forehead before quietly making his leave.
I hope you guys liked this chapter; I managed to put a little RobStar in it for you. The whole deal with Slade is coming-the next chapter is the plan, so bare with me. I feel like I've been dragging it out, but it's coming, I promise! I am hoping that you get a sense of Beast Boy's maturity for this chapter (hint hint). Leave me a review if you could! Thanks so much for you continued support!