A Note from the Authors: Okay, sorry to those who wanted stuff to explode now - it can't happen. If it did, Raven would devote herself to emotional hermitage, thus being the cause of a really boring story. Also, I remember in the episode revolving around Cyborg's car, Rae smiled at the end and nothing exploded then. So that's the bit of fact I use to back up my choice of no explosions.
This chapter is mostly Ra/BB, but don't worry Ro/SF fans, that will be coming as well! Enjoy!
New Note: Again, the song stuff is gone. But other than that, not changes.
Chapter Two
"Hitting the Showers"
"There – you see?"
"See what?"
Robin tapped her cheek with his index finger. "You can smile, and nothing exploded," he explained, "Looks like B.B. was right after all…go figure."
"You were eavesdropping??" she said, giving him a hard shove.
"Hey, come on!" he laughed, "You two argue so loud the whole city can hear you!"
She frowned, and nodded, "You make a valid point…"
"Why don't you go back down and talk to him?" he suggested.
She bit her bottom lip, considering this, "Why? Did he seem affected when I left?" She could hardly imagine Beast Boy getting worked up over upsetting her, as it was a routine habit of his.
"You're asking me to figure out Beat Boy?"
"I suppose it is a bit much to ask," she shrugged, then sighed, "Where is he now?"
"Starfire sent him off to the showers to wash off the coffee," Robin told her, "Knowing him though, he's probably just standing around letting the water run so she thinks he's actually washing."
"Typical," she shook her head, and then rose to her feet, heading back for the stairs.
"Where're you going?" Robin asked, jogging after her.
"To the showers," she said simply, giving him a challenging look, and then disappearing down the stairway back into the tower.
'Oh boy…B.B.'s gonna have my head for this,' Robin thought to himself with just a hint of a demonic grin, 'Then again, he did pour cereal down my back…'
* * *
Steam filled the large bathroom that all three male members of the Titans shared. Beast Boy had considered not actually using the shower, but the coffee was sure to have some sort of strange effect on his naturally green hair, and he had begrudgingly obeyed Star's orders to clean himself. Now that he was standing under one of the showerheads, letting the hot water pour over his head and down his bare back, he found himself glad he had listened to her. The rhythmic pounding of the water fell in time with the beat of his heart and his animal instincts were aroused in a way he'd never noticed before.
He titled his head back, letting the water hit his face and his imagination run wild. The jet of water was now pouring over a tropical cliff in a majestic Amazon waterfall. He could almost smell the jungle that was materializing in his mind. The soft song of wild birds reached his ears. This was a place where he could belong; such a contrast from the cold, metallic world he had lived in most of his life. Lost in his fantasy, he felt Raven's aura approaching and in his jungle world, she emerged from behind the waterfall, purple hair plastered flat and framing her face, water cascading over her head and onto her bare shoulders.
The color rose in his face as he reached out to touch her. But his hand hit a tile wall and he was rudely brought back to reality. He sighed, and then realized something peculiar. The presence of Raven's aura hadn't vanished with his daydream. She really was somewhere near. Puzzling over why she would be in the boy's wing to begin with, he shut off the shower, grabbed a towel and had barely gotten it around his waist when the door swung open. He looked up, expecting Robin to be there, coming to yell at him for wasting the hot water. But as the steam faded quickly away, he made out who was actually strolling into the room.
"R-Raven!" he stammered, nearly dropping his towel in surprise, face burning crimson, "W-what're you doing here?!"
She shrugged, "Robin said I should talk to you." She turned her eyes on him, looking him up and down, and he wished his mind was functioning enough to turn himself into a bug and drown in the last bits of water on the tile floor.
"Do we have to talk now?? Here??" he asked somewhat frantically.
"Don't you want to talk?" she asked, hiding her enjoyment at watching him squirm.
"Not at this particular moment!" But what kind of insect? Maybe a gnat… at least it would be hard to find a creature of such small stature.
"Fine…whatever," she said, turning to go with a slight sway to her hips that he'd never noticed before, "But I may not want to talk later…"
"Yes you will. You wouldn't have come in here if it wasn't important to you." Or a bee. Sting her and make a getaway…
She stopped and twisted around, their eyes locking. "Maybe…just get dressed quick – before I get tired of waiting," she told him. Then she strode out of the room, smirking to herself and silently, secretly wishing she'd gotten there a few seconds earlier.
The young man breathed a sigh of relief at her leaving, then let the towel go again. No need for that, not in solitude. An earful awaiting him outside, but coldness from the sudden change in temperatures here, Beast Boy drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly and began to search for his discarded garments.
* * *
Raven slid down to the floor just outside the door, leaning back against the wall, her legs stretched out in front of her. She fingered the draw-strings on her pants absentmindedly, the image of the changeling in nothing but a towel still fresh in her mind. A few years ago, she would've chided herself for indulging in such impure pleasures, but as even she was human enough to develop a healthy set of hormones, she'd given into her less-than-characteristic thoughts, at least privately.
With a crack, there was a sharp pain in the back of the teenager's head as the door finished a quick crash course with her skull. Beast Boy heard the startling noise and noticed a lack of opening from the door. The color drained from his freshly-washed face, as he realized what had most likely just happened. 'Definitely not my day…' The rushed transformation into a scarab beetle made him just small enough to fit through the remaining crack in the door, and the change back into his normal form was even more hurried. He knelt down next to Raven, who had her eyes closed and one hand rubbing the back of her head, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I couldn't see you down there!"
She blinked back a few small tears of pain and looked up at him. "No…it's my fault…I shouldn't have been sitting here…" She shut her eyes for one more second, inhaled sharply and concentrated. As the pain slowly dulled to a minimum, she opened them again. "That was quick…you getting out here, I mean."
"It doesn't take us guys half the time to get dry and changed as it does you girls."
"Apparently…but I hope you aren't joining me and Starfire into the same category as 'girls'," she said, "I fail to see many similarities between us…" she trailed off, glancing down at her own chest, which hadn't developed nearly as much as the Tamaran's.
Beast Boy pretended not to notice her intent (or stare), "Hey, maybe it's her species or something…" he was about to say something more, but quickly thought better of it. That last comment may not have hit off as well as he had hoped it would.
She sniffed, sticking her nose in the air, "Oh, who says I care anyway?"
"I don't know- hey, you were the one that brought it up!" he told her in frustration. This meaningless bantering was getting them further from what she had really wanted to talk about. It was times like this that he could usually depend on his sense of humor to lift the weight of the situation, but his funny was failing him. Not that anyone (especially Raven) ever appreciated his efforts in tense circumstances. Ever.
She rubbed the bump on the back of her head again. "Yeah…I know…sorry," she said quietly, "I must care, otherwise I shouldn't have said anything…" She folded her hands in her lap and said softly, "Guess I was just hoping that you wouldn't care."
"Who says I care? I was just trying to make you feel better because it sounded liked you cared." Did he care? An interesting question, as his mental make-up mixed animal instincts with his otherwise human reason and prejudices. Most likely, his overanxious mouth spoke the truth for him.
'Well, this conversation isn't going as planned…and I think I just let him in on something I really didn't want him to know. Too late to take it back now, anyway…' "I can only imagine what a flake you must think I am," she said with a small smile, "Worrying about stuff like that…not very much like me, is it?"
"No, it's pretty different. But then again, I guess we're all changing somewhat, huh?"
She nodded, "And it's not all bad…up until a few minutes ago, I hadn't realized you'd gotten yourself a 'six-pack'," she added, jabbing a finger into his stomach, "Robin's had you on intense training for a while, huh?"
He grimaced, remembering all the late nights of training with the other two boys. Cyborg had it easy with his half-metallic body and Robin got never-ending energy and enthusiasm from God-knows-where, but work ethic for such things just never came to Best Boy, no matter what he tried. It just wasn't interesting. Thus, Robin's idea of getting him to like something was doing it long and often. Raven had noticed the improvements in his physique, so perhaps it wasn't all for nothing, "Yeah. The bird's a real nuisance at times."
"No argument there," she said. There was a short pause in which both of them could think of nothing else to say and just sat in awkward silence, neither looking at the other. Finally, Raven spoke up again, "This wasn't really what I came down here to talk about…sorry I spazzed at you earlier."
"It's alright," Beast Boy told her, smiling, "You just caught me at a bad moment. So, um… what did you wanna talk about?"
She swallowed harder than normal. 'Better get it over with' she told herself and blurted out, "You were right about me."
"Huh?"
'He's gonna make me explain it?? Damn him and his ignorance…' Raven sighed and plowed onward, "That thing we were arguing about – you were right."
"We had an argument?"
She wrung her hands in frustration, "Yes – you thick-headed ape! I'm trying to apologize here!!"
Beast Boy winced, "You're doing a good job." He quickly transformed himself into a large gorilla, with which he made as sad a face as he could muster.
She frowned at him, "You're not making this any easier." Her expression softened and she turned her eyes to the floor, "I'm not used to this so just bear with me, okay? What you said this morning…about my being afraid to smile…you were right. But Robin proved your point and made me realize I had nothing to be afraid of. So…maybe I won't have to be such a wall anymore. There – I said it." She moved to stand.
He let her, back to normal form once again, "So, does this mean you'll laugh at my jokes?"
"No."
"Aww, man!"
"One step at a time, B.B." she told him as she headed off down the hall, leaving him in the corridor alone.
