So get this - I don't own the Teen Titans!
Beast Boy didn't come out of his room for the rest of the day, which worried Raven. His emotions were doing the static-thing again, but when she did pick up on them, they were rather neutral. She passed by his room several times, but realized bitterly that he was asleep. Robin had caught her the fourth time and explained that the green teen was having a bad day. Raven was just thankful the boy wonder hadn't asked why she was hanging around outside of Beast Boy's room.
He didn't come down for lunch, nor dinner - and Raven was fairly certain he hadn't had breakfast, either. And Beast Boy loved eating. She had half a mind to just bang on his door and demand to know why he was being so... weird, but she realized that she'd be doing the exact thing she hated him doing. So instead, she spent her time meditating and reading.
Which, admittedly, was kind of boring.
She still loved her quiet time, but she loved Beast Boy's attention even more. It was nice; it made her feel special. It made her feel.
But now all she was feeling was worry, and a little bit of anger, because the stupid changeling wasn't taking his time to annoy her like usual. A part of her wondered if it had something to do with her admitting to having a crush - perhaps he was actually upset, despite not having any feelings for her. Maybe he wanted her to never be with anyone, so that he could annoy her as much as he wanted. Or maybe she was the fall-back girl, in case his "ladies-man" act didn't work out.
Both scenarios left a foul taste in her mouth, and she decided that when he finally did come out of his room, she'd give him a good smack on the back of his head - just for making her even think about all that.
Unfortunately, she had to wait til the following morning to do that.
She was refilling her tea when he finally made his grand entrance, which was basically a rerun of what he had done yesterday - yawn, greet, complain.
"There's still no soy-milk? Awe, come on!"
Raven was about to respond with a sarcastic quip, but instead decided to ignore him - she knew that it would drive him crazy. Plus, it was basically what he had done to her the day before.
She merely walked past him, bumping his shoulder slightly, as if she hadn't seen him. She could feel his confused gaze follow her to the couch, before the usual argument of fake-milk versus real-milk begun with the arrival of the half-robot.
Once the argument turned to fake-meat versus real-meat, Raven felt the need to blow something up. He was acting as if he hadn't been locked up in his room - for no reason - the day before. And that pissed her off.
And the fact that everyone else failed to bring it up? That pissed her off even more. They all knew the changeling wasn't the happy-go-lucky, all-play-and-no-work jokester he pretended to be, but staying cooped up in his trash-hole of a room all day? That couldn't be healthy - physically nor mentally. If she had done the same thing, they'd all be standing outside her door in battle-mode, awaiting another demonic family member's arrival to enslave the human race.
"Beast Boy! It is glorious to know you are no longer unwell!"
Raven was suddenly very thankful for Starfire, who was apparently oblivious to the difference between pouting and puking. Deciding that seeing his reaction would be beneficial to figuring him out, Raven turned around to watch the scene unfold in the kitchen.
Beast Boy's face was turning a slight red as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Before, Raven had found the habit to be quite endearing. Now, it was just condemning him to a day full of angry-empath. How dare he try to be cute.
"Uh, yeah... I guess," he laughed uncomfortably.
Raven tried to stifle a snort of bitter amusement.
Cyborg was looking uncomfortable as well, and she could tell he was silently trying to stop Starfire from pressing further.
As usual, the alien didn't notice.
"Was it a sickness of the stomach?" she asked sweetly, not realizing the potential awkwardness of the conversation.
Beast Boy gave her a lop-sided grin as he pushed around his tofu eggs with a spatula. "N-no, I was just... not feeling... I mean..." he trailed off, and Raven could feel his embarrassment seeping off of him, along with something that felt strangely similar to regret.
"I was just really tired, you know?"
Starfire seemed to accept his explanation as she floated towards the refrigerator. "I do the seeing. So, it was a sickness of the head?" she continued.
Raven decided then that she would award Starfire's convenient prying with a trip to the mall.
Turning herself to become less suspicious, but still able to see any of the changeling's physical reactions, Raven attempted to look as if she wasn't totally eavesdropping.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Beast Boy piling his eggs onto a plate.
"I guess - but, like, I didn't have a headache or anything. I was just tired," he replied, making his way to the table.
Raven let out a groan of frustration as she had to re-position herself to still keep an eye on him. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice.
"So you were, as they say, 'emotionally exhausted'?" the orange titan wondered.
Raven could have sworn she saw Beast Boy stiffen slightly, but he shook it off with a shrug. "You could say that."
Starfire remained quiet, and Raven suddenly felt a little disappointed as the shape-shifter's focus returned to his meal. She sighed quietly as she looked down at her tea.
"So it had been a sickness of the heart?"
Hearing Starfire's final question, Raven glanced at the changeling to gauge his reaction, and felt her heart skip a beat as he glanced over at her. Their eyes met for a split-second, before Beast Boy tore his gaze away and began blushing furiously.
Confused, and a tad bit excited, Raven hurriedly tried to get a reading on the green titan's emotions, but again, they were absent. But that only confirmed her suspicions.
Beast Boy's hidden feelings were undoubtedly about her.
Raven was pleasantly surprised that her discovery hadn't caused her powers to short-circuit anything. She was feeling a dangerous amount of curiosity and excitement, but her powers remained in check.
So far, she had continued with her decision to ignore the changeling, despite knowing that he was obviously feeling something for her that he didn't want her to know. She knew that talking to him would give her a better idea of whether these feelings were positive or negative, but she was a firm believer in karma. And if Beast Boy was going to shut her out for a whole day, then she'd do the same to him.
Her stomach fluttered pleasantly when the green teen figured out what she was doing. He had been somewhat avoiding her as well, but when the alarm sounded and Robin ordered the flight-enabled titans to the roof, Raven had conveniently forgotten to teleport Beast Boy with her and Starfire.
She obviously didn't see his initial reaction, but the confused glare he sent her during the mission confirmed that he wasn't happy.
After a quick win against Doctor Light, Cyborg had suggested getting some pizza, since the team hadn't eaten out in a while. Raven made a point to sit on the other side of the half-robot, so that the changeling would have a difficult time speaking to her around the obstruction. And though he never specifically directed any conversation towards her, she could sense his annoyance in his tone, as well as with her empathy.
Her resolve was weakened though when he came up to her after they returned to the tower. She had been making her way towards the roof to meditate when he caught her alone in the hall. She figured that having no witnesses would make ignoring him easier, but found the eerie silence after his question unsettling.
Since she had been so focused on pretending he didn't exist, she hadn't actually heard his question. But she wasn't about to ask him to repeat it. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and arched a brow.
He sighed in exasperation, before asking her again.
"Are you mad at me or something?"
Yes, she thought automatically, but knew that he'd only ask why, and her reason would give her away. "No."
He blinked in confusion. "You're not?"
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she shook her head curtly. "No, I'm not. Is that all?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, though she wasn't sure if it was from anger or trying to see in the dim lighting.
"You seem mad."
She tilted her head to the side slightly, reminding herself that passive-aggressive was the way to go. "Do I?" she mused.
He let out a huff of frustration, before giving her a pleading look. "Okay, well - just in case - I'm sorry. I was wrong. I didn't know. It was a joke. I should have known better. It was an accident. Silkie probably ate it. I won't do it again." He took a deep breath, before giving her a shy smile. "Did any of those cover it?"
This time, Raven resisted the urge to smile. Despite how truly irritating the green teen could be, she found herself liking him more and more. And with the knowledge that he possibly felt the same, she allowed herself to fall deeper.
"I'm sure some of those will come in handy in the near future," she deadpanned, though she could tell Beast Boy knew all was forgiven.
"And you say I never plan ahead," he laughed, causing Raven's lips to twitch into a small smirk. His carefree aura suddenly took on a serious tone, and she felt her stomach twist uneasily as she waited for him to continue. "Uh, Rae?"
Usually, the nickname filled her with a strange mixture of happiness and irritation, but this time, all she felt was a foreboding feeling of dread. "Hmm?"
He averted his eyes towards the ground as he scratched his arm nervously. "D-don't be mad, but I, uh... I figured out who you like."
Raven was expecting him to reveal his hidden emotions and either tell her he felt the same, or let her down gently, but instead all she felt was his nervousness, with a hint of annoyance.
"Y-you did?" she squeaked, grateful that nobody had bothered to put new light-bulbs in the hall lights. His emotions were cutting in and out all of a sudden, and she felt the strangest need to curl up in her bed with a tub of ice cream.
Beast Boy merely nodded, his face expressionless. Seeing it so blank made her wonder if he always felt this insignificant when she'd do the same to him.
"I don't w-want this to affect our friendship - " she began, feeling a prickling sensation behind her eyes. She begged herself not to cry about this - at least, in front of him.
He cut off her explanation with a wave of his hand, offering a small smile. "It won't Rae, I promise. Nothing could make me stop being your friend."
His words were bittersweet, but they didn't stop her powers from slowly peeling off the paint on the walls.
"And as your friend," he continued, his face relaxing slightly, "I am going to help you, like I promised."
Raven felt her disappointment turn to bewilderment as she arched her brows comically. "Like you - "
"And I had actually talked about this with him before, so I already know he wants to ask you on a date, so I called him back yesterday and left him a message. I was thinking that it'd be a good idea for him to be your date to the ball, so that you guys could kinda test the waters, I guess."
Okay, now she was really confused - what the hell was Beast Boy going on about? Who was this "he"?
"W-what?"
Beast Boy suddenly adopted a horrified look as he raised his hands in front of him in a defensive manner. "Oh! No, don't worry! I didn't tell him that you like him! I just let him know that he wouldn't be rejected if he asked you out!"
Raven felt the strangest rush of emotions, and couldn't tell if they were Beast Boy's or her own. But they seemed to only be fueling her powers as the floor boards began shaking.
"Who is he?" she asked incredulously.
Her green teammate furrowed his brows in confusion. "Uh... Aqualad?"
Apparently, Raven didn't need the light-bulbs to short-circuit the whole tower.
It seems like whenever Beast Boy tries to do something nice for Raven, it always goes horribly wrong. Can't the guy catch a break? Lol
Oh, and poor Aqualad! Hopefully they'll be able to get rid of that message before he hears it - despite being a pretty-boy show-off, he seems really sweet.
Anywhoo, omg this had passed 100 favorites! That's amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you to all you fabulous people who have favorited, followed, and reviewed! And a big thank you to those of you who just read it! You guys are all beautiful and incredible and fantastic people!