I'm not right when I say I own the rights to the Teen Titans.
Raven watched absently as Robin demonstrated a few defense maneuvers with Starfire, who was trying to smother her smile from being so close to her boyfriend. The empath could almost taste the emotions pouring off of the two, and she had to hold back a snort of amusement. It seemed like the boy wonder wasn't taking this as seriously as he was trying to portray.
As the atmosphere grew heavy with emotion, Raven felt herself sneak a glance at the changeling, who was trying to stifle a yawn as he pretended to pay attention. His earlier concern for her had ignited a fire under her skin and caused a storm in her stomach as she felt his emotions jump back and forth. She couldn't get a definite reading on each one, but she was almost certain she felt the slightest hint of...
She shook her head tentatively to rid herself of that thought. If Beast Boy was feeling that way, she'd be able to detect it. He was obviously just worried about her, since they were friends. And he worried about his friends.
But that feeling wasn't something between friends...
Rolling her eyes in annoyance at her own thoughts, she welcomed Robin's order to split off into pairs and spar. A quick training session with Starfire would surely distract her from that dreaded feeling of hope.
She immediately began walking towards the alien, but her leader held his hand out in front of her.
"Actually, Raven, I'm gonna have you and Beast Boy spar," he announced, motioning the changeling over with his other hand. "No offense, but with Starfire's natural strength and Cyborg's robotics, you and Beast Boy are better suited for each other."
She prayed she wasn't blushing as her mind wandered off with the possibilities of the boy wonder's last statement.
"Of course," she replied dutifully, sparing a quick glance at her green teammate.
Beast Boy was smiling absentmindedly, blissfully unaware of the danger he was now in. If Raven couldn't control her emotions standing beside him, she couldn't imagine what would happen if she were pressed up against him. Or sitting on top of him. Or pinned beneath him -
She squeezed her eyes shut and chanted her mantra before her thoughts caused the training room to explode. Now was definitely not the time to let her mind wander. She needed to focus.
Finding her center, she opened her eyes, only to see two emerald orbs looking at her in concern.
"Rae?"
She could feel his anxiety seeping into her skin, which didn't help her situation. Closing her eyes again and pinching the bridge if her nose, she begged her frazzled mind to cease its spinning. And if her stomach would stop tumbling, that'd be great, too.
Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with a sense of calm. Opening her eyes in confusion, she realized it was coming off of Beast Boy, who was grinning his toothy grin.
"Come on, Rae! Let's get me kicking your butt over with!"
His serene state of mind should have eased her into her own, but the fact that he could willfully project her emotions frightened her a bit. Despite his good intentions, she could feel the slightest hint of concern, masked under the calm feeling. But just barely.
Which meant Beast Boy was fully aware of what he was doing, and his synthetic feelings were undeniably intentional.
Which meant Cyborg might be right...
"I highly doubt that." Raven wasn't sure if her retort was directed at the changeling or her own thoughts, but it seemed to spark a competitive side in Beast Boy.
"What, you think you can take me?" he asked incredulously, fighting back a smirk.
She rolled her eyes in exasperation as she refrained from answering, instead waiting for Robin's signal to start. If she focused on beating Beast Boy, she wouldn't be thinking about being with Beast Boy.
With a quick "Titan's, go!" from Robin, Raven sidestepped Beast Boy's lunge for her, smiling to herself at his predictability. Because this was physical combat training, the use of their powers was prohibited. Which meant Beast Boy would try to use their size difference to his advantage.
But he underestimated her speed, apparently.
Again, he made a move to grab her, but she easily ducked out of his reach. She was good at avoiding things, so staying just beyond his fingertips felt natural. Besides, she relied on her physical strength the least, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise.
Feeling a lot better with the situation, she allowed her mind to wander a bit as she dodged another attempt.
So far, Robin had failed to notice that she wasn't wearing her cloak, which made moving around easier, and kept her a lot cooler. Despite her love for hiding under her hood, it could get pretty hot in there.
Raven was surprised when Beast Boy had suddenly and successfully kicked her legs out from under her. He had made a move to her left, so naturally, she had dodged to her right. But he must have suspected it, because all of a sudden, her back was against the floor and the changeling was hovering above her, grinning triumphantly.
"And you thought you could take me?" he laughed.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she knew she still had a few more seconds before Robin would declare Beast Boy the winner. Moving faster than she had thought possible, she rolled into the changeling's leg, which sent him toppling onto his side. He had been overly cautious not to actually be on top of her, which meant his balance wasn't the greatest.
Deciding not to abide by his polite example, she rolled on top of him, sitting on his abdomen and pinning his arms above his head.
His shock faded quickly, and she felt him swing his legs up as he hooked them under her arms, throwing her onto her back again. She had no idea he was that flexible. He grinned cheekily as he was on top of her, again, only he seemed to throw caution to the wind as he re-positioned himself, like he was getting comfortable.
Not wanting to give up, Raven attempted to wiggle out from under him, but he only snorted in amusement as he leaned closer to her and pinned her arms above her head. His face was merely inches from hers, and she knew it was only a matter of time before her powers acted up. Instead of fighting back, she squeezed her eyes shut and chanted her mantra, accepting defeat.
She could feel Beast Boy's concern probing at her mind as she begged for time to move faster. It had to have been ten seconds by now - why the hell hadn't Robin called it?
She felt Beast Boy tense up as he discreetly lifted himself off of her, which only made her situation worse. His thoughtfulness was driving her to the brink of insanity, and she swore she felt another stab of that unnameable emotion. Not that she didn't know what it was; she just couldn't bring herself to believe it.
It was gone in a flash, along with the pressure on top of her and in her head. Robin must have declared Beast Boy the winner.
Raven opened her eyes slowly, only to see a gloved hand reaching towards her. He was trying to help her up, rather than gloat. Beast Boy always gloated.
She slapped away his hand as she pulled herself to her feet, sending him an unamused glare. If he was going to tiptoe around her, the others would notice. Then Cyborg's suspicions would be confirmed, Starfire would become increasingly overbearing, and Robin would attempt to get her to talk about it, so she wouldn't be distracted during missions.
And then Beast Boy would never leave her alone, until she blew up and confessed the actual reason.
That she liked him.
And then she'd be completely mortified when he told her he didn't feel the same.
Or that spark would ignite, and he'd tell her he did.
And she wasn't sure what would be worse.
Sparing another glance at him, she felt like punching the wall. He was staring at her intently, his brows furrowed and his mouth a straight line. But she couldn't get a read on his emotions - they were coming in like static.
One minute, she'd feel anger, but it would fizzle out into gratitude and then morph into indifference. His emotions were as unstable as his DNA, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to get a hold on them.
Of course he'd decide to suppress his emotions after Cyborg put the suggestion in her head. But at that thought, she wondered if the robotic titan had said something to Beast Boy as well, because she never had this hard of a time reading him. He was usually an open book. Now it felt like he was speaking another language.
"Alright, titans - good job," Robin began, obviously unaware of the silent confusion between his two teammates. Raven couldn't help but think that for a great detective, the boy wonder could be pretty oblivious.
Her eyes darted towards Cyborg, who was thankfully too busy sulking from his defeat to notice her and Beast Boy's strange behavior. And Starfire was preoccupied with smiling brilliantly at Robin, meaning Raven's only concern was Beast Boy.
Who was still looking at her funny.
"Take a quick ten minute break, and then we'll practice some field training - powers and weapons allowed."
Sighing in relief at the chance to meditate, Raven quickly made her way towards the corner of the training room beside the water fountain. Hovering delicately with her legs crossed, she began chanting her mantra under her breath.
"...beat by a girl!"
Her brows furrowed slightly at the sound of the changeling's voice as he neared her.
"Yeah, well, Rae put up a fight - don't act like she didn't!" Cyborg retorted, obviously miffed.
Raven started to regret her decision to meditate by the fountain - it was as if she had subconsciously chose a place where she'd be interrupted; like she wanted to go crazy or destroy everything.
Or give Beast Boy an excuse to pry.
She growled at her the voice in her head, realizing too late that she had done so aloud as her teammates ceased their conversation.
"Somebody's a sore loser."
Strangely thankful for Beast Boy's attempt at humor, Raven opened her eyes and glared at the two of them. "Please refrain from talking while I meditate - otherwise I won't be responsible for any harm that comes to you if you piss me off."
Cyborg snorted in amusement while the changeling rolled his eyes - though his sporadic emotions were telling her he was far from amused.
"Gosh, Rae - your unwavering kindness to BB might give him the wrong idea," the half-robot joked. Or maybe he wasn't joking. Raven couldn't tell.
Regardless, she kept her face blank and her eyes on him - even the slightest indication that she cared about Beast Boy's reaction would tip Cyborg off. Besides, she could feel the changeling's reaction without having to look at him.
Yet she detected nothing but Cyborg's amusement - Beast Boy's emotions were... gone.
She could still see him from the corner of her eye, but she couldn't feel him.
It lasted maybe five seconds, before his own amusement overwhelmed her a bit.
"Ha. Ha." She wasn't sure how else to respond to Cyborg's teasing, and her mind was still reeling from the five-second gap of her green teammate's emotions.
How had he done that?
How could she not detect anything?
What... what was he hiding?
Sparing him a fleeting glance, her heart skipped a beat as he gave her his signature, toothy grin.
Another chapter!
So Raven kind of knows what Beast Boy's mystery feeling is, but she's not entirely convinced. Since she "feels" the emotions depending on how "loud" they are, this mystery one is obviously more of a whisper, so neither of them are one hundred percent certain of what it is. Though all of us probably are! Haha
Anywhoo, this is almost to 200 reviews, which is awesome! And it's past 130 followers, which is incredible! If it could get a couple more, that'd be absolutely amazing! And favorites are super duper cool as well!
And for everyone who has followed/favorited/reviewed - I love you! You guys rock! :D