Prompt: Beast Boy and Raven chilling out on beds and couches at a furniture store.
Summer
Beast Boy draws a loud, rumbling inhale through his nose, pushing it out his mouth with an obnoxious hiss. From the corner of his eye, he catches Raven turning a sharp glare on him.
"I didn't ask you to come with me," she grieves.
He grins. "You'd be bored without me."
She rolls her eyes, but he's pleased, and surprised, that she doesn't disagree with him. Actually, he expected her to downright refuse his offer to come with her today, but when he skipped out the door behind her, she didn't say a word.
Beast Boy extends a hand to where she's standing beside the bed. "You gotta try them out if you're gonna buy one."
While she doesn't take his hand, she does shuffle closer until, eventually, she perches on the edge of the mattress. He grabs the sleeve of her unseasonably long sleeve shirt and tugs her down, flailing, until she's sprawled across the bed next to him. They both lay there, though it takes them a second to remember the purpose of it.
Raven crosses her arms. Beast Boy wiggles.
"No," she decides at last.
"Squishy," Beast Boy agrees, and they stand simultaneously.
That's when Barb descends upon them, smile about as ambitiously fake as her platinum dye. Beast Boy's sure she wants to be pleasant, and is probably a very nice lady, but the presence of two titans in the furniture store has attracted a lot of attention. She probably drew the short straw, the poor associate who has to serve titans while twenty-some mall goers stare through the glass walls at them.
Barb's eyes flicker towards the spectators, then settle back on them. "Hey there, my name's Barb." She gestures to the massive name tag on her chest, the one he'd already read during her approach. "May I assist you with your furnishing needs today?"
"No," Raven shoots immediately, already turning away.
Beast Boy throws out two hands, one to hold in front of Barb and the other to grab Raven's arm. She narrows her eyes on him. "Well, hold on. Maybe Barb can tell us which mattresses have the stuff you like."
"Oh," Barb interjects, "are we looking for a mattress?" As if she hadn't found them trying one out already. "What preferences do you two have? Are you memory foam folk or-"
"You… two?" Raven's voice is calm, quiet, and deadly.
Oh dear. "Never mind, Barb. We'll just try them out and get back to you later." Instead of keeping Raven in place, he has to physically hustle her away from poor Barb. He points to a mattress in the far corner of the store. "Let's start there!"
"No," Raven seethes through her teeth. "We're leaving."
"Ah, come on, Raven. Is it really that traumatizing when someone thinks we're together?"
He stops pushing her when they reach his target mattress, and while she doesn't answer immediately, she doesn't look at him either. It's not the first time someone's made this mistake, and it's certainly not under the most unreasonable circumstances. Honestly, when you see two people trying out beds together… well, he doesn't blame Barb for her assumption. He's sure everyone staring at them right now is speculating.
Beast Boy doesn't mind the mistake. It's not like these people know them personally, and he's not going to let something like that get in the way of his day. Plus, the idea of him and Raven together isn't exactly unappealing. It's just highly unrealistic.
He and Raven? Please.
"No."
He blinks, already having forgotten what he asked. "What?"
Raven regards him with what he can only describe as utter indifference. "It's not traumatizing. But it's idle, erroneous gossip."
He's going to assume erroneous means it's not true. Then he shrugs. "Yeah, so? Half of what they say is erroneous. About everything. They think my favorite decade is the nineties, which is blasphemous-."
"Beast Boy, no one cares about your favorite decade. Who even has those?"
"Uh, everyone."
She shakes her head. "Doubtful."
"Well, at least we can establish that I'm not the one in denial here."
She stares at him for a long moment, then turns to the mattress. "Fine, let's just get this over with."
"You've gotta take your time, Rae. Really get a feel for the springs." He jumps, arms out, landing face down on the bed. It's a nice, soft landing, but he can't imagine sleeping on anything this padded. He rolls over so he's on the right side, facing her. He pats the space next to him.
Reluctantly, but less so than the first time, Raven lays down next to him. Immediately, she sits back up. "I feel like I'm being swallowed."
"'Kay, next one!"
They're on mattress number seven when Beast Boy thinks he's found the perfect nest. It's divine. Soft, but firm. It doesn't sag under their weight, but it allows for the curves of their limbs and torsos. Honestly, it's making him want to buy a new mattress, too.
Raven hums like she's thinking. When he rolls his head to observe her, he finds her glaring at the ceiling with her hands clasped over her stomach. "Imagine you have to sleep in this bed every day. Going to bed and waking up like this." She rolls her head to meet his stare.
"Like this?" she repeats.
For some reason, that makes him nervous. "Uh, yeah. Without me, obviously. And, like, with sheets and stuff." He pats the mattress. "Comfy? Will it hurt your back? Cuz crime fighting with a bad back is bad." He shakes his head. "Don't let your gravestone read: perished by bad back."
Miraculously, the corner of her lip twitches. "How very articulate." She returns her gaze to the ceiling. "It's nice. I think I'll go with this one."
They remain there for another moment, and just as he's wondering if he has to get up at all, a shadow passes over Beast Boy's eyes. A saccharine drawl has him squeezing his eyes shut. "Looks like you've found the one! Now, will the two of you be needing a queen or a king?"
Oh, Barb.