Ice Skating

"It's cold."

"It's an ice rink in the middle of winter, Raven." Beast Boy rolled his eyes, tightening the laces on his ice skates and making sure they were secured. "Of course it's going to be cold."

She heaved a somewhat dramatic sigh. "Why did I agree to this?"

"Mmm, because you're bored." Beast Boy shrugged before invading her space and grinning into her face. "And you just like seeing my face."

"Neither of those things were true…" She raised an eyebrow as she glanced up from her skates, looking into his eyes. She pushed at his shoulder, putting much-needed space between them. "Perhaps 'annoyed with your pestering so I gave into your requests' is a better response to my question."

"Awe, come on, Rae. You know you like being here with me!" Beast Boy stood up and looked down at her, teetering on his skates a little bit. "We're having fun."

Raven snorted and stood up, a little shaky on her legs. She leaned against the bench behind her and tried not to look panicked as her ankles wobbled beneath her. A second passed and she finally met Beast Boy's eyes. "My idea of 'fun' usually doesn't consist of making a fool out of myself in front of a hundred strangers."

Beast Boy snorted. "Awe, come on, Rae. It's just ice skating. You know how to do that…" He trailed off, watching as she stared at the ground, pretending to be interested in a piece of paper that had fallen to the floor.

Wait. She didn't know how to ice skate…? Seriously?

"Raven? Do you…"

She picker her eyes up and looked into his face, blushing furiously as she made her way to the ice rink, teetering on the blades of her skates. "I've skated before. I'm fine."

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow. Something about the way that she said it made it seem as if she was trying to hold more onto her pride than admit that maybe she hadn't skated before. It really wasn't anything she should be ashamed of, after all, it was just ice skating. He walked after her and tried to get her attention, calling out, "Raven! Watch for the first step!"

Raven sniffed indignantly and ignored him as she stepped onto the ice-

crash

-and immediately slid across the slick surface and into a crowd of people. She made it a good twenty feet before gravity and inertia took over, and Raven tumbled ass over tea kettle into someone. Blushing profusely, she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up over her eyes and muttered apologies.

Beast Boy winced and skated up to her and the guy she crashed into. If she only just listened to him. He stopped behind the two of them, but said nothing, knowing that talking to Raven right now was likely to find him on the receiving end of her powers. No, the best thing was to ignore her little snafu until she collected herself again.

"Are you okay?"

Clearly the stranger didn't know that.

Raven curled into herself, trying to make herself as small as possible as the stranger continued to stare at her, rubbing his elbow. She nodded slowly, not meeting his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He chuckled, and even Beast Boy had to admit the sound was pleasant. "Are you hurt?"

"No." She shook her head, still looking down into her lap as she sat on the ice, letting the coldness sink into her bones. "No, I'm fine. Did I hurt you?"

"A few bumps and bruises, but nothing I'm worried about." He laughed again. "I'll gladly take the injuries as a way to meet a pretty girl."

Beast Boy balked. Seriously? This guy was smooth.

Raven's head ducked lower and she continued to blush.

"So, I take it this is your first time skating, huh?"

Raven finally picked up her head and met his face.

"Ah, there's her face." He smiled as he looked into her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was mistaken, you're not pretty… you're beautiful."

Okay, this was beyond smooth. Beast Boy bit back a growl of anger and he skated away, pretending to ignore the conversation they were having calmly in the middle of the ice. He asked her name, and she replied softly, obviously shy as he continued to shower her with attention.

Beast Boy fumed. He had never gotten her to look at him like that - with wide-eyed wonder and soft phrases. She responded to this stranger in a way that was impossibly feminine, she played with her hair and averted her stare often, chuckling and smiling as he continued to talk to her before helping her to her feet. Beast Boy didn't even know Raven had a feminine bone in her body. No, he thought she was just… well, Raven.

"…help you skate?"

Beast Boy jerked and nearly toppled over himself. What? Some stranger was teaching her to skate and he wasn't? He sniffed indignantly and pretended to ignore the sight of the stranger skating backwards while holding her hands, giving her pointers as they moved. It looked ridiculously stupid, like something out of a cheesy movie.

It shouldn't have mattered that she was getting skating pointers from someone else. She was just a friend, and this certainly wasn't a date. Beast Boy had just been bored, and she looked bored, and… oh who was he trying to kid? He had been hoping to have a nice day with her that - while not a date - would have at least been something special to her. But no, Beast Boy had that pulled out from under his feet by a smooth stranger with the ability to charm.

He leaned against the edge of the ice rink and watched as Raven tripped, but Mr. Smoothy-Pants caught her and chuckled. He whispered something into her ear and Raven blushed red, looking up into his face with a smile.

To hell with this. Beast Boy mumbled curses under his breath as he made his way to the exit. He would rather drown his sorrows in hot chocolate than sit here and be subjected to this ridiculous show. He plopped down on the bench and began unlacing his skates as the stranger was now skating side-by-side with Raven, giving her instruction or praise. Raven offered him a slow smile and said something back.

Oh, it was just disgusting.

So why was he still watching it?

He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall behind him. This was stupid. He should go home and leave her on her inadvertent date with Mr. Smoothy-Pants, at least that way one of them would have gotten something they wanted.

"What are you doing here?"

Beast Boy jumped and stared into Raven's face, blushing. "Uh, sorry. I needed a break and you… you looked like you were having fun with that guy and all…"

Raven blinked and plopped onto the bench next to him, shrugging. "I was, but you asked me to come with you, Beast Boy. Not him."

Okay, she had a point.

"I wanted to come out with you. I'd prefer not to make a fool out of myself in front of strangers. If I'm going to look like an idiot, I'd rather do it in front of friends."

She placed her hand on his knee and offered him a small smile. Beast Boy swore his heartbeat sped up to a million beats per minute. He let his hand rest over her own and looked into her eyes. Maybe this day didn't have to end badly…

"I am cold." She said calmly, pulling her hand away. "Why don't we go get some hot chocolate and skate together afterwards… I think I'm getting better."

Beast Boy looked into her dark eyes and felt a smile stretch across his face. No, this day was certainly not ending up badly at all. He stood up and smiled down at her. "Okay. But it's your treat."

She chuckled. "Deal."