Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.
After several unsuccessful tries to wake up the changeling, Raven hauled his unconscious form to his bedroom (instead of the ocean as it had been so tempting to do). Once inside the Tower, Raven activated the Titan's fix-it robots to repair the damages to the Tower and took a quick shower. Raven made her way to her own bedroom. She threw on a dry uniform (her third of the day) and entered her mirror to have a nice civilized chat with her emotions.
"HOW DARE HE FAINT ON ME AFTER I CONFESSED LIKE THAT?!" Rage roared as she choked a giggling Happy.
"Technically I did not confess but informed him that I would be open to his current physical advance." Knowledge pointed out, already donned in her yellow pajamas and night cap.
"Any and all physical advances." Affection sighed dreamily.
"No no no no no!" Timid cried, burying her tomato-red face into her hands. "He makes me so uncomfortable!"
"Not to mention I'd have to shower every day." Rude pointed out, scratching her armpit. "That booger-colored stink-ball won't be able to keep his paws to himself. He'll want to 'mark his territory' if you get my drift." she added causing Raven to make a face.
"Ew."
"Don't listen to her." advised Wisdom. "That is highly unlikely to happen."
"He did it to the GameStation." Knowledge reminded, causing Rude to stick her tongue out at Wisdom in smug victory.
"Your input was unnecessary." Wisdom told Knowledge.
"So's your face!" Happy joked, pointing at the yellow emotion and laughing.
"We are here to talk about Beast Boy, not nonsense on whether or not my facial structure is moot." Knowledge said, adjusting her glasses. "…And you have the exact same face."
"She's right. We are here to decide what we want to do about Beast Boy." Wisdom said, gesturing for everyone to sit in a circle. All the emotions and Raven followed except for Rude who decided now was an excellent time to clip her toenails.
"Brave, switch with Rage." Wisdom said after analyzing the seating arrangement and realizing having Rage between Raven and Timid was not the wisest idea.
"You can't tell me what to do!" the red-cloaked emotion raged, standing up with fists clenched.
"Do it because she's the smartest." Brave countered, standing up as well.
"Are you saying I'm not smart?!" Rage asked angrily, black flames encasing her hands. "The things I could do to you, I—" She was cut off as Brave dumped a bucket of water over her before hoisting the wet and smoldering emotion over her green-clad shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, you could grind our bones to make your bread. Now sit there." Brave said, dumping Rage on the ground between Knowledge and Happy, wiping off her hands and sitting down next to Raven. Knowledge opened her mouth to correct Brave's statement, but caught Wisdom's look to just leave it alone. They now sat: Brave, Raven, Affection, Knowledge, Rage, Happy, Wisdom, and Timid with Rude still out of the circle.
"Ravie, you should come here more often. I miss you." Affection said, snuggling her head against Raven's shoulder.
"The less she visits means the better handle she has on all of us." Knowledge said from next to her.
"She will never control me!" Rage said, ringing out her hair and glaring at Brave.
"She already has since you're missing two eyeballs!" Happy pointed out, poking Rage in the forehead with two fingers where her missing demonic eyes would be.
"Do that again if you want to lose your fingers." Rage snapped at the emotion beside her.
"We need to get this decided before Beast Boy wakes up and wants an answer." Wisdom said, pulling Happy's hand away from Rage's face. Then she turned to Raven. "Now, what do you want to know first?"
"Do I actually like Beast Boy or did I get swept up in this very long, very eventful day?" Raven asked, directing her attention to her purple-clad emotion that was still leaning on her. The emotion gave her a heartfelt smile before reaching into her cloak and pulling out a book—more specifically a scrapbook.
"Look here." she said, opening to a page near the back half. It showed a picture of the others playing Frisbee in the park on a sunny day. The picture was primarily focused on Beast Boy going for a catch he couldn't reach in his human form. "Do you remember this?"
"Not particularly." Raven said, honestly. They played Frisbee in the park a lot so she couldn't think about one particular instance. Affection smiled and turned the page.
"How about now?" The new page showed a picture of Beast Boy and herself. She was sitting on a blanket, book in one hand and Frisbee in the other. He was grinning at her as he held out his hand expectantly, the sun shining brightly on him. Raven looked at the picture curiously.
"I think. I was mad at Beast Boy for missing the catch that almost hit me." she said. "This was two years ago?"
"It was." Affection replied, tracing the outline of Beast Boy in the picture. "But you weren't angry at Beast Boy."
"I wasn't?"
"No, you were angry at me." she explained. "This was the first time you thought Beast Boy was cute and you didn't understand that so you got angry and directed that anger at him."
"More specifically she directed the Frisbee at his head." Knowledge inputted, gesturing to the picture opposite the one they were staring at. It was the same picture except Beast Boy was on the ground in pain clutching his forehead with the Frisbee lying next to him and Raven was fuming.
"Are you saying I've liked Beast Boy for two years?" Raven questioned her affectionate emotion.
"You've always liked him; he's one of your closest friends." Affection replied, turning to one of her favorite pictures in her book. It was a picture of all the Titans (a couple of years younger) sitting around the kitchen table, talking and goofing around. She grinned merrily at the picture. "Two years ago is when you started to physically become attracted to him. One year ago is when you decided to be less guarded with your heart and slowly developed more intimate feelings for him."
"After my birthday." Raven said as Affection nodded.
"Technically, that would be one year, two months and—" Knowledge supplied but stopped when Rage growled at her. "—Continue."
"I have been trying to tell you for a while now but it's hard to be heard over some of your more vocal emotions." Affection said, gesturing towards Timid, Rage, and Rude (who had still yet to join the circle).
"I'm sorry!" Timid cried, twin trails of tears running down her cheeks. Rude couldn't care less about the situation to give a reaction and Rage smirked dominantly.
"That's okay Timid, I still love you." Affection cooed, crawling over to the frightened emotion's spot to embrace her in a comforting hug. Unfortunately it backfired and made Timid even more uncomfortable than she already was.
"Affection, go back to your place before Timid causes an aneurism." Wisdom instructed.
"Or a heart attack." Raven said, feeling her pulse racing and getting the need to go hide under her bed. Her hand began to glow with a blue aura that she casted in Timid's direction. Soon the ruffled emotion began to settle down once more, only a couple of tears leaking down her cheeks.
"That was 0.8 seconds faster than your previous time." Knowledge noted. "Since I know one of your questions will be about our emotion-driven powers, the answer is as long as you keep your more negative emotions in check," She gestured towards Timid, Rage, and Rude, "as you have down thusly, there should be minimum risk in perusing a relationship with Beast Boy. Neutral emotions will have no effect." This time she gestured towards herself, Brave, and Wisdom. "Unless, of course, coupled with another emotion. More positive emotions," She pointed towards Happy and Affection, "are much easier for you to express without them trying to take control of our powers. Especially if you find the proper outlet for them."
"Outlet?" Raven questioned, having an idea of where this was heading.
"Jump for joy!" Happy exclaimed. "Laugh at a joke. I won't go overboard unless you do!" At this point she had been standing in a pink row boat, but jumped out and rolled on the floor in laughter. "Get it? Overboard!" She continued to laugh until Rude finally came into the circle and literally walked all over her—several times.
"Settle down." Raven said, glaring at her orange emotion.
"Make me!" Rude said, sitting down on top of Happy and crossing her arms like the brat she was. Raven decided to ignore her for now. Happy didn't seem to mind as she was now pretending she was the boat.
"Nonetheless, you should continue to meditate as it has been proven to statistically increase your control over your powers." Knowledge continued.
"So I do like Beast Boy and my powers shouldn't interfere." Raven summarized. "So that just leaves…" Even with her trailing off, each one of her emotions understood the unspoken question.
Did she want to be in a relationship? With Beast Boy?
"No no no absolutely not!" Timid cried. "He'll just hurt me like M-Malchior because no one could really love me."
"Bull. BB is nothing like dragon-breath." Brave pointed out. "He'll treat me well, you'll see!"
"He'll want to touch me!" Timid added, clutching herself tightly with her arms. "Be…intimate…"
"Thank goodness!" Affection said, throwing her arms up into the air. "I have needs too you know!"
"We can talk about, uh, that stuff later." Raven said, a small blush on her cheeks as Timid's entire body flamed up in embarrassment. "For now, holding hands or, uh, kissing is about as intimate as I'm willing to go. Beast Boy will just have to accept that."
"Aww, you're so cute when you're embarrassed, Ravie." Affection said, pinching the original's cheeks.
"Get off." Raven said, glaring at her purple emotion with the blush still on her pinched cheeks.
"The decision ultimately is up to you, Raven." Wisdom said. "We can give you our opinions, but you're the one that has to live with the decision."
"Well, what are your opinions?" Raven asked. "Who thinks it's a good idea to be with Beast Boy?"
Happy, Affection, Brave and surprisingly enough Rude raised their hands.
"What?" Rude asked, one eyebrow raised when she noticed everyone starring at her. "I figured it'd be even more fun to make fun of him after I've seen his tiny little—" She was cut off as Rage kicked her in the stomach, punting her over 30 yards away into a tree.
"If the grey one cries anymore I will kill all of you!" Rage seethed before turning to Raven. "I do not care if I am with the changeling or not. He will continue to piss me off either way so it does not matter." With that said, she gave one last huff before stomping off into the distance.
"I guess for once Rage is neutral." Raven said as Happy fell over in giggles. "So you both think I shouldn't be with Beast Boy?" she asked, referring to her smartest emotions. She didn't even need to ask Timid.
"I decided the wisest move was to not vote." Wisdom said. "Maybe if someone had read more of Starfire's girly magazines, I would have more advice for a situation like this."
"Cop out." Brave said, not even bothering to hide it in a cough.
"My statistics indicate that the current way things are running will lead to a successful future, thus I vote against a romantic relationship with Beast Boy." Knowledge informed the group. "Romance often does not last and could result in a broken friendship, not to mention a broken heart. Figuratively of course."
"Don't listen to Ms. Cold Calculations." Brave said. "She's all numbers and no heart."
"I'm all heart, listen to me!" Affection pointed out. "I want someone to hold me close and tell me they love me! I want someone I can share myself with and have them understand me completely. I don't want to be alone anymore."
"It's scary to be alone." Timid said softly, making everyone look at her. She flinched under the attention. "But it's scary to be with someone too."
"It's not scary, just new." Raven looked around to see which emotion had said that, but realized with a shock that it had been her.
"Yeah!" Brave hollered, pumping her fist into the air. "I won't let fear run my life—"
"—and I never will." Raven finished, a small smile on her face. Her insides swelled with happiness as she realized she had her answer.
A couple of moments later, all of the emotions and Raven stood around the exit to Raven's mind.
"Go get him girl!" Brave said, slapping Raven on the back as the original prepared to leave out the door to her consciousness.
"Give him a big kiss!" Affection squealed, slightly swooning.
"Then punch him in the head a couple of times." Rage added, still angry over Beast Boy's fainting.
"Sleep is also necessary." Wisdom pointed out, gesturing towards Knowledge who was sound asleep by the base of a nearby black tree. She was still in her pajamas but Rude had stolen her night cap and was using it as a hankie. "Get some as soon as possible."
"And some donuts, I'm hungry!" Happy exclaimed, gnawing on her cape.
"Kiss, punches, sleep, donuts. Anything else?" Raven asked, nearly out the portal. She felt a small tug on her cape and turned to see Timid. The weepy emotion looked up at her with glistening eyes.
"Not…not too fast…please?" she whispered. Gently Raven put a hand on Timid's shoulder.
"Definitely not too fast." Raven agreed. Timid didn't smile but looked less terrified which was enough for Raven. She turned to leave once more but was blocked by her last emotion.
"I know I'm going to regret this but what do you want?" she asked.
"Nothing." Rude said casually, inspecting her finger nails, chewing on one of them.
"Nothing?"
"Well, there is one thing."
"And?" Rude shot her a very smug face.
"I just wanted to remind you that you'll be making out with a guy who can turn into a monkey!" There was a moment of silence before Raven let out a small chuckle, brushing passed her crass emotion. Rude's smugness was replaced with narrowed eyes.
"What's so funny?" she asked, not liking to be the butt of a joke.
Raven stopped just on the cusp of leaving. Turning around she said, "I wanted to make out with a man made of paper. At least a monkey has lips." And she was gone, leaving Rude slack-jawed, Affection and Brave cheering, Happy laughing, Rage seething, Wisdom indifferent, Knowledge sleeping, and Timid falling over in a dead faint.
Upon exiting her mirror, Raven quietly left her room in search of Beast Boy's. She sensed the other Titans had returned for the night and were asleep. She quickly found Beast Boy's room, his door open as he preferred to leave it. She wanted to talk to him now before she lost her confidence and chickened out.
"Beast Boy?" Raven called out softly from his doorframe. Her only response was the light breathing of the changeling's sleeping form. Closing the door, she slowly crept a little closer, making sure not to step on any old pizza boxes or dirty laundry. Her nose crinkled at the smell.
"Beast Boy wake up." she called out again, this time a little more forceful. When that didn't work she closed the gap between them, standing right at the edge of his bed. Beast Boy was sprawled out on his lower bunk, tangled in his blankets.
"Beast Boy!" Raven said, shaking his shoulders.
"Mer no na zzzzzz…" Beast Boy managed to get out, then going back to sleep. Raven sighed, before giving off a big yawn and sitting down on the bed near Beast Boy's feet. Looking at Beast Boy's alarm clock, she realized it was 3 in the morning and she hadn't fulfilled Wisdom's request of sleep.
'Maybe this could wait until after I've gotten a good night's sleep.' Raven thought looking at the sleeping boy before here. He looked so cozy and peaceful.
'Yes, I definitely should get some rest.' she thought, leaning on Beast Boy's footboard more than she probably should. 'This bed is so comfortable…' was her last thought as her mind left consciousness.
It was half past 9 o'clock when Beast Boy started slowly waking up. Yawning, he gave a great big stretch.
WHAM!
"OW!"
"Huh?" He quickly looked to the end of the bed where the cry of pain came from. He saw Raven sitting there, rubbing her stomach, squinting in the bright light. The changeling's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped. "HUH?!"
Realizing exactly where she was, Raven met Beast Boy's freaked out stare with a sheepish look. "Uh, hi." she said, a blush spreading over her cheeks as Timid cried in her head, claiming she broke her promise.
"What are you doing here?" Beast Boy asked once he figured out how to speak properly. "In my bed?!" Suddenly he paused. "Wait. What am I doing here? Weren't we on the beach?" He glanced at the window realizing it was now daytime. "Dude! What happened? Where's Malchior?"
Raven paused for a moment. She actually didn't know where the evil dragon had floated off to but he possessed no threat now that he was trapped. She would go search for him later since she was currently preoccupied.
"Malchior's trapped once more."
"How'd I get here?"
"You fainted." Raven explained. "I brought you here and it looks like I passed out too." Her trip inside her mirror was just an unnecessary detail. He only needed to know about the result of it.
"I fainted?" Beast Boy asked, a confused expression on his face. "Why did I faint?"
"You…you don't remember?"
"No. I remember fighting Malchior, your curse, the explosion, but after that things get fuzzy. What happened?"
Raven sighed, realizing she would have to explain everything to him, meaning everything. It was going to be an awkward conversation.
'Or payback.' Happy said with a giggle and a wink.
'PAINFUL payback!' Rage added.
'No! Flirty payback!' Affection put in.
'Running away…' Timid sniffled. She wasn't as loud as usual. Raven sighed, deciding to listen to her emotions.
"Well after the explosion I lost consciousness and fell into the ocean."
"What?! Are you okay?" he asked frantically, scooting closer to give her a once over. She shot him a look that said 'do I look dead?' "Oh, right."
"You're an observant one aren't you?" she said, amused by his concern. "Sometime after I fell in you rescued me, even having to perform CPR."
"I remember that!" Beast Boy exclaimed, suddenly recalling diving into the water, pulling out her unconscious body and performing CPR on her. With a blush, he also recalled some of the things he had said to her. "Wow, I can't believe I—"
"—Tried to kiss me?" Raven interrupted, making Beast Boy's body freeze.
"I what?" he asked, his voice oddly high pitched.
"You tried to kiss me." she repeated again. Her face was deadpanned, giving off no emotion.
"Oh…" Beast Boy's face turned into a tomato and he pulled at his collar to let out some steam. "And what…what did you do?"
"Beat you senseless." Raven replied, just as emotionless. "With a rock."
"Oh." Beast Boy said glumly, suddenly feeling like his heart was put into Cyborg's meat grinder and then stomped on. At least now he had an answer: she didn't like him. He had known that would be the obvious answer, but it didn't make him anymore prepared for the pain. "Guess that explains why I fainted."
"It would…if I was telling the truth."
Beast Boy sighed, looking down at his lap. "If you were—WHAT?!" His head snapped up so quickly it made an audible snap. He looked at her and realized she was grinning and her eyes twinkled with mischievousness. "Raven…What happened?" Beast Boy felt his heart begin to race. Was there still a chance she could like him? He tried not to let his hopeful thinking get out of control but the way she was looking at him only made believe more.
"You'll just have to remember." she responded.
"Seriously, tell me!" he begged, clasping his hands in front of him and getting as close to her as possible without actually being in her lap. "Please?"
"You know I can ignore you for long periods of time." Raven said, arms crossed and grin gone but her eyes continued to twinkle.
"Argh!" Beast Boy cried in frustration, falling back onto his mattress. He just wanted her to say the words he longed to hear. "Okay, so last thing I remember was rescuing you. Shouldn't that be enough brownie points to get you to tell me?"
"In our line of work? No."
"Fine." he pouted. "So we were on shore, and you were coughing to get the water out and…" He scrunched up his face in concentration as he desperately tried to remember. It suddenly hit him and he gasped. "I was so glad you were alive that I-I tried to…to…" He gulped. "…kiss you." He looked up at Raven to see her reaction. She gave no other reaction than raising an eyebrow.
"And?"
"And…"
"You can kiss me now." It came back to him, and with it came a dopey grin that covered the changeling's face. He sat up.
"See? Using your brain isn't so bad." Raven remarked, knowing that he had remembered.
"Definitely not when it gets me kisses." Beast Boy agreed, wiggling his eyebrows.
"'Kisses'? I believe it was a kiss and that opportunity has already expired." Beast Boy's face fell slack.
"What?!"
"You fainted ergo no kiss." she explained.
"Not fair!"
"That's life." Beast Boy sighed, but then a timid smile made its way to his lips.
"So was the reason you said I could kiss you because you kinda sorta maybe like me?" he asked nervously. There. The question was out in the open now. There was no turning back and he would have his answer.
"No, of course not. I just looove kissing people who rescue me." Raven said, sarcastically, making Beast Boy even antsier.
"Raven!" he said in almost a whimper. As much as he loved jokes, right now he wished humor didn't exist. "Answer the question: do you like me?" he asked again.
"It's complicated, Beast Boy." Raven replied. "I don't think you would understand."
"Come on Rae!" he said, desperately. If it was complicated then there had to be some feelings she harbored for him. "Try me."
"Alright." Raven said. She took his hands in hers. "Yes." she said simply. Beast Boy stared at her in confusion.
"Yes? Yes what?"
"Yes I like you."
"…How is that 'complicated'?!" Beast Boy shouted.
"Well, you seem to struggle with understanding the word 'no' so I wasn't sure if you would understand 'yes' any better."
"Hey!" he said, a bit irked. It was then that he suddenly seemed to process Raven's words. "HEY!" he exclaimed. "Really?! You like me?! Like really-really?!" His smile lit up the entire room.
"Yes."
"Really?!"
Raven sighed. "Where's that chalkboard of yours? I think I need to draw it out for you." she said, looking around. Beast Boy laughed before gently cupping his gloveless hand against Raven's cheek so she was staring directly into his eyes.
"I told you Rae, I'm more of a see it and do it kind-of guy." he said, leaning towards her.
"My mistake." Raven leaned towards him.
"I like you too." Beast Boy said, a faint blush on his cheeks as he drew even closer.
"I got that." she responded as they were only millimeters apart. Beast Boy suddenly stopped his forward motion and Raven looked at him quizzically. "What's wrong?"
"What about your powers? Don't things go 'splody when you feel emotions?" he asked.
"And when has that stopped you from trying to get me to laugh at one of your jokes." Raven pointed out.
"Mm good point."
"I've got my powers under control. Nothing will go 'splody'." Beast Boy grinned.
"Cool." he said before their lips met together in the kiss that both had secretly desired throughout the night. It was light and innocent but did not lack in passion. Both felt as if they had Starfire's powers and had floated up to cloud nine on happiness alone. Beast Boy was unfortunately even shorter sitting down and had to lean up to kiss the girl of his dreams. His height was always a sore spot with him and while Raven wasn't that much taller than him, he still felt the need to want to be taller than her.
'If we were laying down that wouldn't be a problem.' Beast Boy thought before he moved his free hand to Raven's shoulder to push a little pressure against it so she would lean back. Understanding Beast Boy's intention, Raven broke the kiss and pulled back.
"I-I'm not ready for more…intimate things." Raven admitted, pulling her cape around her body.
"Huh?" It was then that Beast Boy understood exactly where they were (more specifically what they were sitting on) and what he had unintentionally tried to do. His face turned into a cherry tomato.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—I just wanted to kiss you without having to look up." he said sheepishly. "I wasn't trying to jump levels. Honestly. Can we go back to kissing?" he asked hopefully. Raven took in his expression with a smile but shook her head.
"We should get ready for the day." She glanced at the clock. "We have our weekly meeting in 20 minutes."
"So?" Beast Boy whined. "We have 20 minutes still."
"We do have 20 minutes, but I'm famished and you're in desperate need of a shower." Raven remarked getting up off the bed. Beast Boy gave himself a sniff and grimaced at the smell.
"Woo I reek! And I've got sand in uncomfortable places." he added as he jumped off the bed and did an awkward sort of dance, trying to remove the sand.
"Go take a shower." Raven said. "I'll be in the common room getting some breakfast."
"Mmkay." he replied, looking for some clean undergarments. Raven went to the door and pushed the keypad to open it. What she was not expecting was for a pail of ice-cold water to be flung at her at high speeds, completely drenching her. If she wasn't awake before she definitely was now. Beast Boy dropped the things he was holding and tried to prevent himself from laughing. However he couldn't take it and fell over in hysterics.
"Ha-ha-ha th-th-the look on your f-face!" Beast Boy was able to get out between laughs.
"Glad you think it's so funny." Raven said, trying get over the shock of getting hit with freezing water and started to shake off as much of the water as possible. Her hood had been down and her cape had been open so a lot of her body had been exposed. She felt goose-bumps form all over her skin.
"Here." Beast Boy said, coming up behind her and wrapping a found towel around her shoulders.
"Thanks." she replied, grabbing the edges and pulling it as close as possible.
"Warmer?"
"A little. At least I'm not dripp-ING!" Her voice cracked high as she felt a pair of warm arms wrap around her. She felt her face flush red and the door slammed closed in front of them before re-opening.
Beast Boy looked confused. "Didn't you say your powers—?"
"You startled me." the purple-haired half-demon interrupted, willing the redness in her cheeks to go away.
"Oh, do you want me to not—"
"No, it's nice, just…new."
"In that case…" Beast Boy tightened his grip and snuggled a little closer, resting his head on Raven's shoulder. Raven felt the redness return but this time she was prepared for it. They stayed that way for a moment more before Beast Boy's ears began twitching, his heightened senses picking up on something that was not quite right. He lifted his head to try to pinpoint what it was when a blinking light in the air duct across from his room caught his attention.
"Looks like we have an audience." he said into Raven's ear. She looked alarmed and confused so he gestured towards the duct. A claw of black energy formed in the air and pulled off the duct's cover to reveal a recording Cyborg-hand camera. It didn't move upon being discovered but they both knew it was sending a live feed directly to the robotic man himself. Raven sighed.
"I suppose this is one way of letting them know about us." she said.
"So there is an 'us'?" a shocked Beast Boy asked as his ears perked up. He had wanted to ask her but the words wouldn't leave his mouth.
"If you want to…" Raven said, embarrassed that she had just assumed.
"Of COURSE I do!" he replied excitedly. "Woohoo! You hear that Cy?" he shouted at the still recording hand-camera. "I have a girlfriend now!" With that said, he began to victory-dance around the hallway. Raven slapped her forehead.
"Maybe I should rethink this." she said.
"Nuh-uh! You're mine now. I will hug you and squeeze you and call you Rae." stated the changeling as he proceeded to give her a bear hug before quickly grabbing the towel from her and dancing down the hallway towards the bathroom.
But not before giving his new girlfriend a kiss on the cheek.
Raven flushed a deep maroon and the hallway rattled with her powers for a moment before everything became calm again. A small smile slowly formed on her lips as she placed a hand to her cheek where Beast Boy had kissed her. That was definitely new and definitely something she wanted to get used to as soon as she could. Her smile and hand dropped when she remembered their 'guest'. She went over to the duct, grabbed the hand, and raised the recording digit to be eye-level.
"You will erase everything you recorded from your memory banks or you will wish you never existed." she spat venomously. With that said, she took aim and tossed the hand down the duct as hard as she could. It clanked loudly through that section of the Tower.
The common room doors swished open to reveal Raven. The only other occupant in the room was Cyborg sitting at the kitchen counter. He had a bowl of half-eaten oatmeal in front of him and a complete look of utter shock was on his face. He was staring at his left arm's video console. His left hand was missing. He made no movements when Raven entered the common room and made a beeline to the box of donuts that were purchased the day before from the grocery store. She grabbed two chocolate frosted, put them on a plate, retrieved a glass of milk from the fridge, and stat down next to the unmoving half-robot.
"No comments?" she asked after taking a couple of bites and a sip of milk. Cyborg suddenly seemed to realize her presence. He looked over to her before giving off a noise that could only be described as a shriek. He then began to spew out a string of unintelligible sounds.
"Words are helpful. You should try some." Raven remarked, finished with her first donut.
"Uhh what's wrong with Cy?" a slightly damp Beast Boy said, entering the common and noticing his stuttering friend. That seemed to do it for Cyborg.
"You!" he yelled, pointing at his green friend. "And her!" He then pointed at Raven. Beast Boy gave him a huge grin.
"Yep, believe it dude!" he said, grabbing himself some powdered donuts and sitting down next to Raven.
"I saw it and I still don't believe it." Cyborg whistled. "Jeeze, I know Jinx and that Tammy girl were talkin' about it last night but that still didn't prepare me for it actually happenin'." Beast Boy stared at his friend in confusion.
"Wait, when did they say—DUUUUUUUDE!" the changeling gave off a shocked yell of his own. "You're eating OATMEAL!"
"So?"
"But it's not a brutally murdered animal!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "You always eat something meatiful!"
"'Meatiful'?" Cyborg questioned, turning his attention to his female teammate. "Raven, you really datin' this guy?"
"He'll be easier to train this way." she replied in a monotone. Cyborg smirked, letting out a laugh.
"I don't know how it happened, but I think I'm gonna like the two of you together." Though he said it in the form of a joke, Raven could see the sincerity in his eyes. It really meant a lot to her that her older brother-figure approved on their relationship. One down, two to go.
"I still can't believe you didn't put like bacon bits or meatballs in here." Beast Boy said after his thorough investigation of Cyborg's breakfast. "Who would've thought that you could eat something like this?"
"Probably the same person who thought you two would get together." the cybertronic man said, grabbing the neglected spoon and finishing up his breakfast.
"Dude, you eating oatmeal is waaaay crazier though." Cyborg shot his best friend a look.
"Seriously? Man, I thought the world would have ended before you two hooked up."
"With these charming ears and Raven's hotness? It was bound to happen!" Raven covered her face in embarrassment and annoyance. Beast Boy complimenting her so openly was entirely new and while she didn't hate it completely, it did make her uncomfortable. She was annoyed though because she could hear the beginning of another pointless argument coming on.
"Do you know how crazy you sounded sayin' that? Not that Raven isn't a beautiful young lady of course." he added for his own safety.
"Hey, what about me?"
"You're a grass-stain!"
"Dude!" At this point Beast Boy was crouched up on the counter to be eye-level with his so-called friend.
"Looks like it's a regular morning in Titans' Tower." Robin said as he and Starfire entered the common room, the latter floating at least a foot higher than usual with a humongous grin on her face.
"The date went well I see." Raven said, observing the alien.
"Oh so splendidly well!" Starfire said, grabbing her friend in a bone-crushing hug that almost made Raven's breakfast reappear.
"Ack!" was all she could get out before Starfire released her.
"Alright Titans, break it up." Robin said, playing mediator between his two teammates. Noticing the newcomers for the first time, Beast Boy set his sights on them.
"Dudes, what's more unbelievable: Cy eating oatmeal or me and Raven getting together?" he asked. Raven's head plunked to the counter in front of her. She was hoping to tell her two remaining friends in a more tactful way. Cyborg just laughed.
Both Robin and Starfire (who had lowered down to a more reasonable height) looked at their green friend in confusion. Then they looked at each other before also laughing.
"Very funny Beast Boy. Now, on to more serious matters…" Robin said, trying to get their weekly meeting started.
"Dude! I'm totally serious!" Beast Boy said, annoyed at their laughter. "When does Cy ever eat anything remotely healthy and not full of meat?!"
"Beast Boy…he's eating it right now." Robin pointed out. "And last week as well."
"On the other side of things, were you and Raven to become the 'item', Robin would ingest his cape and the world would end." Starfire stated.
"Well in that case, I hope you're hungry Rob," Beast Boy grinned, putting an arm around Raven's shoulders, "'cause we did get together!"
The couple looked at the pair on the stools for a moment before Robin cracked a smile.
"Sorry Beast Boy but your joke won't fool us." Starfire nodded in agreement.
"I'm telling the truth! Back me up, Rae!" Beast Boy said, looking at his girlfriend. She paused for a moment under the scrutiny. They had just gotten together less than half an hour ago and now she was expected to let everyone know about their relationship? She thought she would have had a least a little more time to take everything in. A little more time before she had to have 'the girl talk' with Starfire. She could deny their relationship now and explain later to Beast Boy how she felt about him blatantly broadcasting their dating status. However, she knew Beast Boy would be crushed if she didn't support him now. Plus, Cyborg already knew and Robin and Starfire would find out eventually. They might even be hurt that they weren't told right away.
"We did get together." Upon saying that, she caught Beast Boy's eye. He was beaming at her and she felt happiness once again radiating off of him. She felt no differently and smiled back at him.
"I'm not buying it." Robin said plainly, crossing his arms and entirely ruining the moment.
"Excuse me?" Raven asked, standing up, slightly offended. It was taking all of her bravery to be so open with her feelings that the least her friends could do is believe her.
"With all the pranks you two played yesterday this is probably the most obvious one with how far-fetched it is."
"Dude, it is so not!"
"Besides, with the contract expired at midnight, why would I go along with such a joke?" Raven pointed out.
"You could have been hoodwinked into another day or Beast Boy could be blackmailing you." Now Raven was starting to get mad.
"Hoodwinked? Blackmail? You think I could be so easily manipulated?"
"Well you are the one that just completed an entire day's worth of servitude to Beast Boy." Raven's jaw dropped at that statement.
"Cy, you know the truth!" Beast Boy said to his friend standing next to him on the sidelines. "Back us up!"
"I'm stayin' out." said Cyborg.
"What?! Why?"
"I want to see where this goes." he said, pointing between the unmoved Robin and the angered Raven.
"Please, perhaps if you were to provide more evidence to the existence of your…'relationship'…then we would be more persuaded to believe." Starfire suggested, sensing the tension and not wanting a fight. Robin smirked.
"Yes, give us more proof." he said. Raven narrowed her eyes.
"What kind of proof?"
"You," Robin pointed at her, "kiss Beast Boy. On the lips."
"Dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed, turning scarlet. "That's private!" Though on the inside he wasn't completely opposed to the idea.
"It's the only way." Robin was confident that Raven and Beast Boy were putting on an act. With more pressure applied, their lies would surely unravel. Raven raised an eyebrow at his statement.
"Really Robin? The only way?"
"Yep."
"Well, in that case, why don't you show us what a 'real' couple kissing looks like?" Robin pulled nervously at his collar.
"Err…Starfire and I are not the ones on trial here."
"But you do like doing the kissing with me, correct?" Starfire asked innocently.
"Well, yeah, but that's—"
"Private?" Raven interjected. "Exactly. I will not be told to kiss Beast Boy on command."
"Yeah!" Said boy added.
"Because you guys are playing a joke—" Robin argued only to be cut off by a hand raised by Raven.
"I will only kiss my boyfriend when I want to." She grabbed the front of Beast Boy's uniform. "And I want to now." With that said, she pulled Beast Boy forward into a strong lip-lock. Everyone's eyes nearly popped out of their skulls—including Beast Boy's, but he soon rectified that by closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around Raven, returning the kiss. Two clanks were heard as Robin and Starfire's jaws hit the ground.
"Daaaaang…" Cyborg drawled out. Despite approving of their relationship, it was still a completely strange concept to him and something he would have to get used to. Robin and Starfire had been obvious since the first day they met.
Raven was the first to break the kiss. She didn't let go of Beast Boy's uniform but he crumpled to the ground as a puddle of mush with a dopey grin on his face.
"Any questions?" Raven asked the shell-shocked pair with a hard look.
"Tons." Robin said, his eyes still opened wide in shock.
"They'll have to wait until after the meeting."
"…Meeting's cancelled."
"Great, we're leaving then." Raven said, dragging the still gooey changeling towards the doors by his uniform.
"But our questions?" Starfire remarked, stumbling as she tried to fly but realized she was too confused to do so.
"They will have to wait." Raven replied, before sighing. "We got together half an hour ago. I need time to decompress and he needs time to learn not to put his foot in his mouth."
"Guess we'll see you in a couple years then." Cyborg joked. Raven smirked before turning and leaving with Beast Boy. Robin and Starfire continued to gape at the closed common room doors.
"…I must still be asleep." Robin said. "That's the only explanation."
"Yes! That is it!" Starfire agreed before she pulled back and nailed Robin in the arm with a massive punch, hoping to prove the existence of the dream. With a cry of pain, Robin flew across the living room until he crashed into one of the massive windows.
"…Ow…" was all Robin could say as he slid down the glass surface.
"Oh no! I have broken my boyfriend!" Starfire cried as she ran over to the fallen leader. "Robin! I am most sorry!"
Cyborg chuckled as he turned on the oven. "So, do you want your cape rare, medium, or well-done?"
Raven had dragged Beast Boy to the roof after leaving the common room. They were now sitting on the ledge and enjoying the sun and the cool breeze offered by the bay. All of the destruction caused by Malchior had been fixed and the Tower was impressive as ever.
"Sorry about before." Beast Boy said. "I didn't even consider how you might've felt about telling the others about us."
"They would have found out eventually but everything is just going so fast. It's a lot to take in." Raven held his gaze. "Beast Boy, I really like you and this is my first relationship."
"Mine too."
"Then let's take it slow."
"I can do that." Beast Boy said with a grin. He looped his arm around Raven. "How's this?"
"Good." Raven replied, leaning slightly closer to the changeling. They still had much to talk about pertaining to their relationship. Things were going to be tough at times, but both were willing to bet that in the game of love, they had both won.
"…I still get kisses though, right?"
This is the last official chapter of Tower! The next chapter is an epilogue so I hope you enjoy it!
Have a nice day and please review!