"The smell of her hair, the taste of her mouth, the feeling of her skin seemed to have got inside of him, or into the air all round him. She had become a physical necessity."
The distinct clink of porcelain against wood roused Raven from the depths of her book. She peered over the pages, eyeing a steaming mug of tea with a bleary curiosity. Her brow raised at the sight, and she found her gaze slipping to the cheery, fang toothed smile of Beast Boy. Raven pursed her lips, her brow quirking inquisitively. "What are you doing?"
Beast Boy's smile faltered. "Uh…giving you tea?"
This gave her pause. Beast Boy making her tea? The concept was a new one. Beast Boy had certainly never made her tea before. So what had changed?
Raven lived on a never changing schedule. She woke up, six o'clock sharp, brushed her hair with the same comb she'd had since she first arrived on Earth, clasped her cloak about her shoulders, and floated to the roof to meditate for two hours on the dot. Raven always meditated on the roof, weather permitting. It was peaceful up there; just the sunrise and the ocean waves lapping against their little island's shore. It served as the perfect backdrop. Of course, if the weather was bad, she opted for the ops room, in front of the big windows.
After her round of meditation, Raven would always brew herself a pot of tea. An organic brew. She always put one spoonful of sugar in it and always sipped it as she read a book.
Raven reached for the mug hesitantly. She supposed today hadn't exactly been normal. They'd been called to an emergency early in the morning, something that had thrown Raven for quite the loop. Her entire routine had been chucked right out the window; she'd even forgotten to brew her tea.
"Thank you," she murmured. Beast Boy beamed, a sight that made Raven feel oddly warm. She ignored the sensation and took a sip from her mug. Surprisingly, it tasted perfect. Raven eyed Beast Boy. Sure, her tea was no secret, but she couldn't help but be surprised that he'd paid attention to how she made it. Beast Boy was a lot of things, but a tea drinker was not one of them.
"How's it taste?" he asked. He was leaning in close, his eyes alight and eager. Raven could feel the apprehension fizzing in the air. She let her gaze fall back onto the book and offered merely a one shoulder shrug.
"It was adequate."
Joy pervaded the air, crowding her senses. Raven risked tearing her gaze away from the pages she was hiding behind, glancing to Beast Boy, who was practically prancing to the kitchen. That odd feeling returned to her stomach, and she suppressed a frown.
Odd.
Raven hummed. The feeling passed, and she mentally shrugged. Today was a weird day; there was no use dwelling on the random, extraneous factors at play. Everything would revert back to its normal place tomorrow, and Raven would forget today's exchange even happened. She was certain of it. Her gaze drifted back to the book and she read on, falling back into her usual rhythm.
~#~#~#~
Rain pelted the streets of Jump City, splattering shamelessly onto the impenetrable surface of the blacktop and concrete, as though Mother Nature was determined to slough through to the earthen layer encased below. Raven scowled at the sky, rainwater dripping from her sodden hood into her eyes.
She hated the rain. It was cold, and wet, and dreary. And somehow, she always managed to step into a puddle too deep and get her socks utterly soaked. She wished nothing more than to be holed up in her reading nook, holding a nice mug full of warm tea and enjoying one of her many books.
But, alas, crime never allowed the Titans a day of respite, so here she was, trudging through the rain looking for an idiot villain responsible for a botched robbery. She swore villains got stupider with every passing year.
"Hey, Raven!"
Beast Boy's voice echoed in the rain, giving her pause. She looked ahead, where he stood in the middle of the street. "What are you doing?" she called. "Get out of there before a car comes."
He tossed his head back and laughed, a joyous sound that bounced off the steel and glass jungle surrounding them. Raven found herself entranced. Her breath stilled as she took in the sight.
Beast Boy's head was tipped back, his hair plastered against his forehead and dripping from the rain. His uniform was soaked, and Raven could see the rain glistening on his skin. A smile warmed his features as he stood and basked in the downpour. He looked…beautiful.
Her cheeks stung, and she shoved the thought down into the depths of her mind and locked it away, never to be thought of again. Thoughts like that were dangerous, after all. Besides, Beast Boy would never think of her that way; why even entertain the idea? She shook herself and forced a scowl onto her features. "Stop laughing and come on," she said. "The sooner we find this idiot, the sooner we get out of the rain."
Beast Boy turned his head. Rain dripped in his eyes and he blinked, a lazy grin still playing on his lips. "Aw, c'mon, Rae, it's just a little water."
Raven's stomach did a little flip at the sound of her nickname, and she looked away. "Whatever," she muttered. She tugged her cloak tighter about herself and trudged onward, her mind aswirl with the image of Beast Boy looking up in the rain.
~#~#~#~
"How do you read in the dark?"
Raven blinked, lowering her book. Shadows pooled across the ops room floor, accompanied by the deepening golden glow from the setting sun. She cut her gaze to Beast Boy, who stood with his back to the window. His hair and skin were outlined in gold, and Raven felt her stomach doing flips again.
It was something that was happening more and more frequently, and Raven wasn't sure how she felt about it. She pursed her lips into a frown. "I'm not."
Beast Boy raised a brow. "The sun is setting."
"So?"
He cocked his head, his brows knitting together in confusion. "Isn't it getting dark in here?"
It was Raven's turn to raise her brows. "Can't you tell?"
Beast Boy shrugged. "I mean I guess. I see just as fine in the dark, though."
Raven lowered her book to her lap and considered this. It made sense, of course. Beast Boy could change his pupils from the normal round ones, to slits like a cat. She figured that night vision wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. Raven looked back at her book with a sigh. "Still, there's plenty of light out to read."
There was a click, and light flooded across the pages of her book. Raven jerked her head up, only to catch sight of Beast Boy as he wandered away from the lamp that was now on. Heat blossomed from her chest throughout her body, making her fingers and toes tingle. Her heartbeat roared in her ears, and Raven wondered for the first time if maybe there was something more to these sensations than she was willing to admit. She let her gaze linger on the space where Beast Boy had stood, realization rippling in her mind.
~#~#~#~
The moment he hit the ground, Raven was running. Her feet pounded on the pavement, the sound roaring in her ears, her breaths ragged and desperate. Black energy cracked at her fingertips, and Raven balled her hands into fists.
Beast Boy's crumpled form came into view, sprawled onto a mountain of rubble that was smeared red beneath him. The sight made Raven's breath catch in her throat. She clawed her way onto the pile, ignoring how her knees and palms scraped against the concrete. "Gar!" she huffed. "Gar, can you hear me?"
Maybe she sounded a little hysterical. It was hard to keep her emotions in order when she was kneeling on bloodstained rubble, though.
A groan snagged her attention, and Raven gingerly caressed Beast Boy's face as his eyes flickered open. "Ow," he croaked. A shaky smile spread across her lips, and she addressed his injuries with trembling hands.
"What hurts?" she asked, breathless. Beast Boy squeezed his eyes shut, pain stitched onto his features.
"Everything," he mumbled.
Raven snorted. "That helps." The snark earned her a smile, making her feel warm. Raven allowed the cool whisps of healing tickle her palms, running them slowly down his form. "You need to be careful," she chided. Raven wasn't sure what his injuries were, exactly; he was bleeding from numerous places, his leg stuck out weird, and the thought of damaged organs tickled the back of her mind like the remnants of a nightmare. Beast Boy merely chuckled, a garbled, sick sound.
"Nah, I just need to figure out how to punch faster."
She frowned. He was joking, she knew, but Beast Boy had a bit of a heroic streak. Granted, they were heroes, but Raven didn't know how launching himself at a villain twice his size and power helped anybody. Especially when he got chucked at the earth and left for dead.
"Rae."
Raven's gaze flickered to his, her heart pounding. Beast Boy's eyes held mountains of evergreen forests, soft and inviting and picturesque. She'd been noticing them more, but now they seemed more breathtaking than ever.
"Hm?"
He struggled to sit up, a wince flickering across his face. Raven splayed a hand on his chest and tried to force him back. "Stop moving, I'm not-"
Beast Boy clasped his hand over hers and gently peeled it away. His expression was soft, and the air around them felt warm. Raven stilled. Her breath stuck in her throat, and she found herself lost amid boughs of evergreens. She didn't realize how close he was until his breath tickled her cheek, and Raven thought her heart was going to beat out of her chest. "I have to heal you," she said dumbly, before her lips were captured with a kiss.
It was soft, like the affection that swaddled her. Raven had no idea how she didn't notice it until now; it was thick and warm and sweet, like a never ending sea of honey. And it was directed at her.
They broke apart, a smile playing on Beast Boy's lips. "Okay, now I'm good."
Raven rolled her eyes, trying to force her lips into a frown. It was hard, though, especially when bubbles of bliss swelled inside her chest, making her feel light. She clutched fistfuls of Beast Boy's uniform, anchoring herself to the rubble pile. Floating about during a battle wasn't exactly helpful, after all. "What was that for?" Raven asked, her voice coming out rough. Beast Boy quirked a brow at her.
"I wanted to."
The phrase had her heart skittering. Raven took a breath, focusing at the task at hand. There would be plenty of time to sort through her frayed emotions, but now she had a battle to win. Focusing was quite difficult, though, with that fang-toothed grin distracting her.
"Impeccable timing," she muttered. This only earned her a bigger grin, but Raven couldn't find it in herself to be truly angry. She continued to heal him, the taste of his lips lingering in her mouth.
It was then, kneeling in a pile of rubble while starbolts and sonic blasts rained around them, her lips tingling from a kiss, that Raven realized that she was smitten. Beast Boy's injuries vanished under her prowess, and the pain clouding his gaze slowly vanished.
Raven's hands stilled, and she glanced furtively to Beast Boy. "Better?"
He dipped his head in a nodd. "Thanks, Rae."
Her gaze slid to his lips, the ghost of their kiss still whispering in her mind. She lurched forward and pressed her lips against his, catching the changeling by surprise. There was a hint of salt and dust, but Raven didn't care. She kissed him slowly, with purpose. When she pulled back, Beast Boy was staring at her, slack-jawed.
"Damn," he breathed. Raven smiled, offering only a shrug.
"I wanted to," she said, tugging up her hood and melting into the rubble. She could hear the echoes of curses streaming from the rubble pile. A smile tugged at her lips.
"Raven, wait!"
Raven threw herself back into the fray, her heart light. She wasn't worried about the kiss; they had plenty of time to figure out just what this was. For now, though, she was content to bask in his affection for her.
Was this what it was like to fall in love? Perhaps. Either way, Raven was excited to find out.
Day one for BBRae week! Happy shipping! :D
-Kat