Hello Hello! I'm happy to be back with another chapter for my story! I would have had it a lot sooner, but I was out of town for a few weeks for work and didn't have internet. -_-

Anyhoot...

RPGPersona- Glad you enjoyed it, my friend! Hope you like this one too :D

Azarath Cat- Honestly, I spent a full 24 hours cross-referencing information because I didn't trust Wikipedia. It was a lot of work, but worth it!

Toto01- Thank you once again for confirming my Bindu and Chakra info as accurate! I hope you enjoy the chapters to come!

Allen Blaster- You'll not find out until the next chapter about that, my friend.

Anyways, on to the story! R&R, please and thank you, and enjoy!


Raven had a problem. Two problems, actually. First, she had to get Beast Boy out of the tower for a few hours tomorrow morning and had no idea how to do so. Patrolling wasn't an option since Robin had accidentally scheduled him to skip patrol that day. Changing it now would make the changeling suspicious.

A suspicious changeling was a nosy changeling.

Secondly, and more importantly, Raven still hadn't gotten him anything for his birthday. It's not from the lack of trying, mind you. It's that she just hadn't found anything worth giving him. She knew what the others would give him. Cyborg had made him the B-car, as it was dubbed, Robin had gotten him two tickets to something called Comicon, and Starfire had gotten him a twelve piece DVD set about 'New World' creatures.

The empath wasn't sure what New World creatures were, but undoubtedly Beast Boy would enjoy it.

She sighed quietly to herself and looked at the clock. A quarter past four in the afternoon. She looked down at the teacup in her hands, vying for some sort of distraction. There was only a swig left in the cup, but the cup itself begged inspection. It was her favorite teacup, a light blue color with white feathers designs on it. Starfire had gotten it for her last Christmas and the empath treasured it. It fit perfectly in her hands and held the heat of her tea just enough to warm them without burning on a cold day.

But lately, something had felt off about the cup. It still fit fine and held the heat fine, but something was different. She just couldn't figure out what.

The sound of a chattering changeling drew her from her thoughts. She glanced around and found him on the couch telling Emelia about caterpillars and butterflies. Every few minutes he would shapeshift into a different caterpillar, then into its butterfly form. The little girl was completely absorbed in his teachings and it made Raven give them a soft smile.

She really was glad to come to know that Beast Boy wasn't as stupid as he acted. It wasn't that he was ignorant or uneducated, as she had initially thought during their first few years of friendship; it was that he knew different things than she did, things she had no interest in learning about.

For instance, while Raven could tell you the history of the language known as Sanskrit, Beast Boy could tell you the evolutionary process of any insect imaginable. While Raven could decipher magical tomes, Beast Boy could (most likely) take you on a safari anywhere in the world and keep you safe from any creature simply because he knew what it would or wouldn't do.

He could talk a nest of hornets into relocating someplace away from Starfire's windowsill, he could tell you what kind of fish were in a specific body of water, he could tell you the difference between a leopard and a jaguar, he could handle some of the most poisonous creatures in the world and not frighten them into attacking because he knew how these things think. Of all the Titans, he could survive best in extreme environments without his powers, simply because he had done it before. Using his powers, he could probably live anywhere on the planet. His body had reached peak condition as well; he had muscle on his lithe frame that one would think and his stamina had reached the point of being much higher than the other Titans (much to their surprise). Sometimes, she wondered what it would be like to run her hands across his biceps to his pectorals, then down to his abs and…

Raven pinched herself, refusing to go down that line of thought. The tightening in her chest and butterflies were one thing that she could deal with; the warm and tingly sensations could hold their horses for much, much later. She was not going to be a hormonal teenager, she didn't have that luxury.

And with that, she made her decision. She was going to go to the mall and look around once more.

She set her cup in the sink after rinsing it out and made her way to the door. Without looking back, she called out loudly, "I'm going out. I'll be back in a while."

"Huh?" A voice said from somewhere behind her. "Rae? Where ya goin'?"

"Out." She replied monotonously. Any inflection of emotion would make the changeling suspicious.

"I know out, Rae, but like, where to? I could come with ya if-" Beast Boy started to say, but was cut off.

"No thank you Beast Boy. I'm just going out to…get some tea. I'm out."

Before he could utter another syllable, Raven was out the door. A disappointed frown adorned Beast Boy's face for a moment before a sly grin replaced it. He practically ran for the door, only for another voice to ring out.

"Daddy!"

He skidded to a halt. "Oh, crap, that's right. Um, we should go find Uncle Cy real quick."

Emelia peeked up over the couch. "Why?"

"So he can watch you while daddy…uh…goes out?" Beast Boy made his way over to his daughter quickly.

She looked up at him suspiciously. "You just wanna follow mommy."

He shook his head. "Nooo…I just want to…um…get some cookies?"

The little girl frowned. "Daddy, we just got cookies the other day."

Beast Boy frowned this time. "Look, Emmy, I-"

"You just want to follow mommy around." Emelia said smugly. "If you leave, I'll tell mommy what really happened with her favorite cup!"

The changeling gaped at her. "B-but I got another one! It even looks exactly the same!"

"It's not the one Auntie Star got her."

Licking his lips nervously, Beast Boy eyeballed her. "You…you wouldn't…"

Emelia smiled deviously at her father. With a sigh to himself, he trudged over to the couch and flopped down. Blackmailed again…


Several hours later, a rather irritated empath sat down in a cushioned chair in the dead center of the mall. She had been all over the complex several times and nothing had really popped out to her at all. Some things seemed like they would work for her friend, but she wanted to get him something that would mean something. She just didn't know what she wanted it to mean. She couldn't give him something romantic, he would probably get upset because he was with Rose. She couldn't give him video games because he more than likely had all of them for the Gamestation. Getting him comics…it just didn't feel right. So what was left to get a nerdy boy like him?

Groaning to herself, she leaned forward and reclined her face in her hands. This was harder than she thought.

"Raven?"

The empath peeked between her fingers then closed her fingers even quicker. She groaned to herself once more. What is SHE doing here?

Despite this, Raven sat up straighter and spoke monotonously. "Hello Rose."

The white haired girl swept her eyes up and down the purple haired girl in front of her before smirking. "Shopping for Beast Boy's birthday, huh?"

Startled, Raven looked at her rival. "How'd you know that?"

Rose let out a small, guilty chuckle. "'Cause I'm doing that too."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "A little late to be shopping for your boyfriends gift, isn't it?"

Rose raised her eyebrow in return. "A little late to be shopping for you best friends' gift, isn't it?"

The empath snorted. "Touché. Found anything?"

"Nothing came to mind, so I'm going to get him some comics he was drooling over the other day." Rose shrugged. "Have you been to Jack's yet?"

Seeing Raven's blank expression, Rose jerked her head to the side. "Come on then. I'll show you were it is. Maybe you can find something too."

Grinding her teeth in frustration at having to resort to accepting help from her, Raven got up and followed the white haired girl silently. As they moved through the crowd, Raven took the time to inspect her rival's attire. The white haired girl wore a black miniskirt with orange dots on it and a matching short sleeve shirt.

Our so called 'rival' looks like a Halloween reject! A dark voice sneered in the back of her mind. She keeps this up and Beast Boy will be ours before we know it!

The empath kept her small grin plastered to her face as Rose led her out of the mall and two blocks over. She kept two steps behind the other girl at all times, mostly because the other, more violent things the voice in her head kept telling her to do required her to be closer. She was pretty certain that mauling Beast Boy's girlfriend wasn't the way to win his affection, but it was a highly entertaining thought for her Jealousy and Anger to debate.

Lost in her thoughts (which involved teaching a certain girl to be afraid of the dark), Raven almost ran into the other girl before she realized Rose had stopped.

Not paying attention to Raven, Rose swept her hand out. "We're here."

Raven looked up at the store sign, which read:

JACK'S CARDS, TABLETOPPING, VIDEO RENTAL, AND COMICS!

Skeptically, the empath followed the girl in. There were dozens of shelves and bookcases, and a handful of glass cases. There must have been hundreds of fantasy and sci-fi books, comics, figurines, manga, anime, rental videos, posters, trading cards, and various paraphernalia. She looked around at all the stuff in there, seeing posters and figurines that resembled the ones in Beast Boys' room.. There was a counter and register attached to a long glass display case that housed hundreds of cards, each in a little plastic sleeve to protect it. On the other side of the counter was a tall and spindly man with red-turning gray hair, big glasses, and a long nose. He must have been in his 40's and he was currently arguing with a rather familiar ginger haired fat man in a trench coat.

"I'm telling you, Eugene, this isn't first edition!" The older man said in exasperation.

The villain known as Control Freak, aka Eugene, shook his head. "I'm telling you, Jack, it is! Look, it's got the watermark and everything!"

"You scribbled 'WM' in water paint! That doesn't make it a watermark!" Mr. Jack shoved the comic back towards the fat guy. "Get that out of here, Eugene. You know better than this. Now shoo, I have real customers to tend too."

Grumbling, Control Freak snatched his comic up and made his way towards the door. He paused when he saw the girls. "Hey Rose…is that…aw crap…."

Raven's eyes flashed red. "Aw crap is right."

With a small shriek, the fat man turned and sprinted towards the emergency exit. Well…that where he was headed. Raven, on the other hand, had a better idea.

A quick chant opened a dark portal in front of him. He didn't have enough time to react before it swallowed him whole and slammed shut with but a . Jack and Rose stared at Raven in horror.

"He didn't do anything wrong!" Rose said shakily.

Raven nodded. "You are correct. He did nothing wrong. But last time I saw him, he said some very rude things that you shouldn't say to a girl."

The store owner and white haired girl exchanged glances, making Raven roll her eyes.

"I'll let him back out when we leave."

Rose and Mr. Jack glanced at each other once more, but the empath ignored them this time. She started with the isles to the right of the entrance and made her way around the room counterclockwise. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of comics, cards, and weird little figurines for something called Warhammer. Figurines of questionably clothed girls littered shelves, as did posters of cartoon girls (most of which were wearing bikinis or something equally skimpy). Near a shelf full of computer games, there was a mouse pad of the torso of an orange haired girl wearing a blue and white bikini, her inflated breasts rising about three inches up.

Not sure if that's perverted or meant to rest the wrist on…probably both. She mused. Seconds later, an evil idea filled her mind. She grabbed the item and went hunting for Rose, whom was flipping through comics.

"You know, this looks like something he'd like." Raven said this as monotonously as she could as she held the mouse pad up. Rose took one look at it and frowned before glancing downwards at her own assets.

"You know…I'm not sure I'd enjoy competing for his attention with that…thing." Rose said disdainfully. Raven, her face as blank as was humanly possible, swept her cloak back in the pretense that it was annoying her and held up the mouse pad as if inspecting it.

In reality she was showing off her own physique, much to Rose's silent chagrin. The white haired girl glared at Raven, her eyes sweeping the empaths curvier body. With a snort, the girl turned away. The dark voice in the back of Raven's head practically cackled in glee.

Raven too turned away, but this was to hide her growing evil grin. She used her magic to return the item to its shelf and then shrugged. "You're right, it is pretty stupid. Besides, I think he'd prefer something more…unique."

Her empathic abilities let her feel how tense Rose became, followed by the feeling of irritation. Though she couldn't see it happening, she knew the girl had turned to glare at her once more. Raven had a thought.

I'm a terrible person, taking potshots at Beast Boy's girlfriend like that…but this is fun.

She wandered around the store for a while longer, not really able to decide on anything. In desperation, she went to find the store owner. The man was selling a trio of cards named Jace, the Mind Sculptor to a tall lanky guy wearing a Shaggy shirt and brown pants. When the guy turned around, she saw that his head matched the one depicted on the shirt, though his nose was smaller and he was wearing glasses. Their eyes met.

He blinked three times as if not believing who he was seeing, waved at Raven, and then walked out.

"I think that was the tamest way someone has ever addressed me." Raven said aloud.

Mr. Jack chuckled. "Yeah, Frank is kinda weird. He don't talk much, always has his head in the clouds."

"Interesting." Raven deadpanned. She looked in the glass counters for a moment before turning her attention back to the man. "Look, I need something…unusual for my friend. It's his birthday tomorrow and I've been all over this town looking for something that isn't run of the mill."

Mr. Jack glanced at Rose, who was shifting through the comics in her hand, then back at Raven. The empath showed no expression on her face or in her eyes, but it seemed that the old man knew what Raven was getting at. He smiled.

"I think I got something for ya." He said before disappearing into the back. Several minutes later, he came out and set down a fair sized box. He opened it up and set down a curious looking plastic box with a slot on top, two moving rectangles below it, a gray lever in the middle, and several funny looking holes on the front and back.

"And this is…?" Raven asked.

"This, little missy, is a Super Nintendo. A classic gaming system. It's in good condition, it works, and the cords are in good condition too. If yer friend is who I think it is, he'll love it."

A thoughtful look found its way to Raven's face. "Something tells me you're right. But he doesn't have any games for this that I'm aware of."

Mr. Jack smiled. "There's the kicker, lass. I've got a small stack of games here, along with four controllers and a multitap, which lets four people play on the two input slots on the front."

"And the bundle price is…?"

"Three hundred flat."

Raven raised an astonished eyebrow. "That sounds pricy."

"Actually, for the games in this bundle, it's remarkably cheap. I'm actually losing money, but your friend has saved my store three times over the past couple of years. I figure it's a fair trade."

"Hey Raven, did you find anything?" Rose called out as she approached.

The empath snatched up the console and put it in the box and closed it. She nodded at the store owner and then turned to the white haired girl. "Yeah, but I'm going to look around for a moment longer."

"Okay." Rose paused. "Do you…want to get a coffee or something? I'm not really in a hurry to go anywhere and you and I have never really talked before…"

Raven gazed at the girl for a long moment, weighing her options. "Hm…coffee, no. Tea, yes."


Ten minutes and three hundred dollars later, a pleased empath strode out of the store to find the other girl waiting for her. Quietly, they made their way to a café the next block over. Once there, Raven immediately jumped in line. She knew what she wanted, but Rose had to stand there and ponder her choices. By the time Raven got to the counter, her tea was already ready. She gave the brunette girl at the counter a small smile and thanked her as she paid.

Perks of being a frequent customer. She mused. They always know what I want.

She settled down into a soft looking beige chair and waited for the other girl. With the tea calming her mind, she wasn't so inclined to wish bodily harm upon Rose. It was a good thing, since forcing down boiling hot tea down someone's throat might be considered a crime.

Whoops.

So much for calming down. She thought grimly. I really need to stop thinking like that. She hasn't given me a reason to do so.

She quietly chanted her mantra to force herself to enter a calmer state of mind. It worked, mostly. Rose arrived several minutes later, a rather tan-looking coffee in her hands. Raven eyeballed it.

"Think you had her put enough cream, milk, and sugar in it?" She asked.

Rose shrugged. "My dad has drunk it black all his life, and when I first tried it I spat it back out. I can drink coffee, but really only when it's a latte like this."

Raven thought about this for a moment and then shrugged. "To each their own then."

They were silent for a while, each quietly enjoying their drink. Raven was lost in thought about wondering if Beast Boy would like his present when Rose set her drink down and turned to the empath.

"You know, something tells me that you don't like me." She said.

"I don't." Raven said instantly.

Rose crossed her arms and huffed. "Why? What did I do to you?"

"Nothing." Her reply was instantaneous once more. "But the last time a random girl popped into our lives and became interested in Beast Boy, she betrayed all of us and almost killed him."

"I am not Terra." Rose spat.

Raven glared at the girl. "I am aware of this, Rose. Beast Boy likes to talk about you from time to time, though I will confess to not listening. What he does with you isn't my concern. But his health is."

"So you hate me on principal of being a stranger?"

"I don't hate anyone but Slade and my father." It was Raven's turn to huff before she took a sip of her tea.

Rose snorted. "So you dislike me because I'm taking your friend away?"

"It's more complicated than that…but yes." Raven shook her head. "I'm not saying I won't trust you with him, but it certainly won't be anytime soon."

"So, what, I have to prove myself to his friends?" The white haired girl scoffed. "Last time I checked, it was Beast Boy that I was going on dates with, not the entire Titan team."

Raven set her tea down and turned to the other girl. She leaned forward and looked Rose in the eye. "Let me make one thing absolutely clear…"

Shadows suddenly burst from every shadowy corner of the room, engulfing the entire area in a mass of pitch black darkness. Rose froze and then touched her nose with her hand to confirm her sudden loss of sight. Out of reflex she looked around. Nothing was visible, obviously, but it had suddenly gotten rather cold. It was as if all the light and warmth in the world had abruptly disappeared.

Two pairs of violently red eyes, one stacked upon the other, opened mere inches from her face. It was accompanied by a dark and malevolent voice that seemed to echo with the screams of the damned.

"The Titans are family, Rose. If you hurt Beast Boy…"

Struggling not to scream, Rose nodded furiously. "I get it, I get it! Now quit with the whole demon overlord thing, you're seriously freaking me out!"

The shadows receded and coalesced into a single blue robed form sitting in a beige chair. The other patrons in the store were all cowering, as were the employees. Rose alone was sitting up in her chair, though this was done through sheer willpower. She shakily reached for her coffee, only to find that the cup was floating just out of her reach. She glanced at them empath, who spoke again.

"If you hurt a single freckle on his head…" She trailed off, leaving her threat unvoiced once more. A look of curiosity temporarily overrode Rose's fear and she stared at the half demon sorceress.

"Beast Boy has freckles?" She asked as she vaguely reached for her gravity defying drink. "Where?"

Raven's eyebrow rose. "On his face. He's got a few under his eyes and on his nose. Shouldn't you know this?"

Rose finally grabbed her drink. Eyeballing it (read: looking for anything unworldly), she shook her head. "No? Why would I? We haven't kissed or anything."

Raven startled the other girl by leaning forward, her eyes almost sparkling. "You haven't? That's kind of weird for a couple that has been together for a few months."

"And since when have you been an expert on relationships?" Rose countered.

Raven rolled her eyes. "I'm not. But when you spend as much time around Starfire as I do, you tend to hear quite a bit of things."

"Fair enough. We haven't held hands or anything either." Rose sipped her drink, though she kept one eye on Raven and one eye on the door. The empath gave her a look of complete disbelief, causing the white haired girl to bring her full attention to her…whatever Raven was.

"He hasn't told you much about our…relationship, has he?" She ventured.

Raven shook her head. "Not really. Just that the two of you go on dates and have fun."

Rose paused. "Well then…I suppose I should tell you that we're no-"

Her phone went off, a weird pop-ish song playing. Rose whipped it out and answered it, frowning as she spoke to whoever was on the other end. Several minutes later, she hung up.

"Well, it seems that I'm working tomorrow night instead of tomorrow morning." She said in a very joyous tone (read: very annoyed).

Raven stared disinterestedly at the other girl for a few minutes before a realization struck her. "Did you say you're off tomorrow morning?"

"Uh…yeah?"

The empath's lips curved upwards ever so slightly. "Do me a favor and drag Beast Boy out of the tower tomorrow morning for at least a couple of hours. We need to get ready for his party and if he suspects we're up to something he won't budge. If you're the one dragging him out…"

Rose's eyebrow rose (see what I did there?). "Oh, now you're going to trust me?"

"Of course not." Raven said instantly. "But…It'll be a step in the right direction."

Rose stared long and hard at Raven, who stared unflinchingly back. Even though the tension in the air was thick, the white haired girl still nodded. "Alright, fine. But I'm coming to the party too."


When Raven got home a little bit later, she was greeted at the door by an enthusiastic Emelia and a slightly less enthusiastic Beast Boy. He looked rather worn out, truth be told. When Raven gave him a questioning look, he chuckled tiredly and shrugged.

"Turns out that Emmy has a more creative mind than I do. I didn't even know I could turn into some of the animals she suggested."

"But…that's what you do. You turn into animals." Raven said slowly, not understanding.

"Well yeah…but I turn into animals that are real. She had me turn into stuff that's mythological and stuff." He shook his head. "That was tiring."

"Anything interesting?"

"Well, right off the bat I can do a chupacabra, a jackalope, a dodo bird, and a kappa, not that I'm sure they'll be useful for anything."

Raven stared at him for a moment, digesting his words as she thought. "I…have no idea what any of those are."

Beast Boy waved his hand. "I'll tell ya another time. You up for giving her a bath, mama?"

"Of course." Raven nodded to him and took Emelia in her arms. Making their way towards Raven's room, Emelia chattered happily about the things her and her daddy did today. Raven couldn't keep a small grin from sprouting on her face. The child was so happy that it was infectious. When they reached the room, Raven set her down and instructed her to go get some pajamas (or jammies, as Beast Boy called them). As Emelia darted about the room, Raven pulled her communicator out and opened a three way call.

Both girls answered at nearly the same time and were surprised to see who was calling them and each other. Raven took a deep breath and looked at both girls unblinkingly.

"Bumblebee, Jinx, can you two come to Beast Boy's birthday party tomorrow? I'd like to discuss something with you."

Bumblebee frowned. "I dunno Raven, I can't really trust these idiots to not blow something up while I'm gone."

"I'm up for it, Raven. I'll swing by with Kid Flash." Jinx said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Well…" Raven spoke carefully. "I've recently discovered that my favorite color is green."

Both girls blinked at her for several minutes before answering simultaneously. "I'll be there."

Raven bid them goodnight and thank you before turning back to a curious looking Emelia.

"But mommy…shouldn't your favorite color be purple, like daddy's?"


Some of you might recognize a particular store from my other main story, Accidents Can Happen. Yeah, it's the same place lol.