Beastboy always wondered about something, but he never had enough courage to raise the question to Raven.
Why was she always reading?
Here's the thing, all of the Titans had something they were always doing for recreation or to simply pass time.
Robin was always reading over the newspaper prints on his wall, or observing visuals of the city for criminal activity. The leader also liked to watch action movies and practice his martial arts.
Starfire loved going to the mall, watch marathons of Word of Fungus, or lift weights. The alien princess was also enjoyed cooking Tamaranean dishes, which Beastboy honestly wouldn't recommend.
Cyborg was either listening to music, pampering his car, or doing both at once. Additionally, the half robot found satisfaction in visiting car dealerships or staying in for a good science fiction movie.
The changeling himself had delights of his own. Video games, eating tofu, watching anime, telling jokes, and playing pranks were all a part of his routine. More often than not, Beastboy liked to fish through magazines for a moped to save up for.
Raven's means of entertainment were different, though. Most of what he's seen of the girl was reading, meditation, and on occasion, knitting.
After years of knowing Raven, Beastboy understood the importance of her daily meditations. The practice assisted her in keeping all aspects of her psyche in line. The Azarathian was always vigilant about her emotions, because of the adverse effects they have on her powers.
But, reading?
For Beastboy, reading had to be the most boring form of leisure to ever invented.
He could never wrap his mind around it, how that girl always had her nose in a book and did that for hours on end.
Starfire, Jinx, Bumblebee, Argent, Kole, Pantha, and Raven all went for a girls night out in the Southeastern region of Jump City.
That left the trio of boys, Cyborg, Robin, and Beastboy in the Tower.
Robin was in his self isolation of running through criminal records, and Beastboy was in the garage with Cyborg.
"Hey, Cy. I gotta question." Beastboy began.
"And that is?"
"Why do you think Raven reads so much?"
"I dunno. She just likes it, I guess." Cyborg was busying himself with the T-Car.
"Yeah, yeah, I get that. But like, Raven does it all the time."
"You talk all the time, and ain't nobody sayin' nothin' to you." the robot replied coolly.
"Dude! That's not true! Okay, maybe I do talk a lot, but not all the time. And you and Raven tell me to shut up on the regular." Beastboy puffed.
"Mm."
"I mean, just think about it. To sit so long and scan your eyes across lines of black ink sounds absolutely horrifying. From what I've seen, all she reads is pages of sentences. No illustrations, color, nothing. Bland as ever."
"Give it a break, B."
"I'm jus' wonderin'. What's so cool about her books? I could never read something so dull."
"Do you even read?" Cyborg questioned.
"Dude, of course I do. At least if I read, I read something more appealing to my taste. Like comics and manga."
"So... your issue here is..." the half robot squinted his eye, narrowing his focus on his task.
"There isn't any issue, just a statement of curiosity. I've never seen Raven so interested about anything else in life, besides waffles."
"Ahaha, yeah, that girl loves her waffles."
"She reads on the couch, at the dinner table, during barbecues and hangouts, and when she walks down the hallway. I'm was surprised she had yet to take out a book during a mission."
"You gotta point there."
"Yooooo, Cy. I have an i-dee-ah." Beastboy rubbed his hands together as a smirk spread on his face.
"Oh boy."
"We, I mean by you and I—"
"This already don't sound good." the half-robot shook his head.
"We can go in Raven's room and look through her library."
"You must be out of that broccoli-lookin, pea-like, silly brain of yours."
"I know." the changeling smiled proudly.
"Do you remember what happened the last time we went in Raven's room touching stuff?"
"Oh, the mirror? Yah, we got to meet those cool Raven-clonies. The green one was pretty dope. Maybe her books got some more clonies."
"You're missing the point here. We went into her privacy, got sucked into a mirror, and ended up in her head, met her personalities, and could have been wiped out by her father. That's not enough for you?"
"Right, right... also, the time that stupid dragon came out of one of her books..."
"Yuh-huh."
"Dude, but this is different. Looking through some books to see if they are truly Beastboy material is not going to do much harm."
"Whatever you do, leave me out of it."
The changeling turned on his heel, "M'kay, catch ya later. I'm going to the library."
"Tsssh. If there is even a later for you." Cyborg scoffed.
"You're such a chicken I swear." Beastboy mumbled.
"What did you just say?" Cyborg whipped his head around.
The shapeshifter was already upstairs before his friend had the chance to move an inch.
Beastboy tip-toed gingerly through the Common Room and into the hallway. He slipped past shadows and the thin thread of light coming from Robin's room.
The green teen arrived at Raven's door and smiled, "We meet again," he opened the door, and closed it with him on the other side.
"Oooo..." Beastboy's eyes drooped slightly to the change in the atmosphere.
The enchanting perfume of lavender and essential oils flooded into his nose.
Statues and decors lined the perimeter of Raven's room. Right in front of the entrance was a huge mirror, shaped as a pentagon. Beastboy knew better than to approach any form of glass in this place.
His feet creaked on the floorboards as he eyed a wooden treasure chest leaned against a wall. The changeling's spirit of inquiry flickered, but he remembered his quest.
Only to inspect his friend's books.
Those of which, were stacked perfectly in alignment between the brown shelves. There were other items on the shelves too, like glass bottles with sand, flower snippets, and other strange products.
Beastboy neared his target.
Not a crumb of dust lingered on the novels.
"How does Raven keep her stuff so tidy and stuff? That's a chore for me." he trailed his finger on a row of books.
"Maybe... I should pick a random one. Hmmm... oh! This one looks nice. The stitching on the spine is pretty unique."
Beastboy pulled out a pale blue book which had golden designs across the cover. His eyes searched for a title, and he could not find one.
"What's a book without a title? That's like me without tofu."
The teenager sat on the floor and ventured through the pages.
"Squiggly lines I do not understand, images that look weird. Dude, what language is this even written in?" Beastboy turned one page after the other and made a stop.
"Hm. This looks English... somewhat," he narrowed his gaze and uttered the phrase, "Merav, Vahtha, Shaclar?"
A crackling sound entered Beastboy's ears, and blue swirls slithered around his body. Prickles zipped through his nerves, his heart throbbed, and his blood pressure took a slight increase.
The changeling shut his eyes and winced from the painful sensation. His brain blacked out for about five seconds, then he collapsed on the floor.
He felt as if the force had gone right under his skin.
Beastboy panted, attempting to get his body back to its regular homeostasis.
"Of course the only thing I am able to read, ends up hurting me." he stood up, getting hit by a minor dizzy spell.
The boy glanced up at the mirror and locked eyes with his reflection.
"Dude."