Cyborg … no. Starfire … uh, no. Raven? Oh GOD, no. Beast Boy shook his head. Robin was the only choice left. He padded down the hall to the exercise room. Through the plate of glass, he saw Robin. Robin had, apparently, tied himself into a pretzel knot.
Now is not a good time, Beast Boy thought. Then, If I wait any longer, the anxiety will kill me. And then I'll be dead. And that would be bad. He opened the door.
"Uh, Robin?"
Robin seemed to be ignoring him, but just as Beast Boy got up his nerve to ask again, Robin began unfolding himself. Robin knelt on the ground and turned to him.
"What's up, BB?"
"Uh … " Beast Boy still needed to ask Robin's opinion, again with the anxiety trying to KILL ME HERE, but his curiosity got the better of him. "What were you doing?"
"Oh, Raven's been teaching me yoga. I'm more flexible than ever, and it helps with concentration. It's nice just to take some time where all you have to do is breathe."
"Uh, that didn't look like breathing."
"It was."
"It looked harder than that."
"There was something you wanted?"
"Oh yeah! Speaking of Raven, I was going to ask her to … you know …"
Robin looked like he knew the rest of the sentence. He also looked like he wanted Beast Boy to finish it himself. At least, that was how Beast Boy interpreted the smirk. Beast Boy wondered if smirking was part of yoga, too, and wondered if he should ask Raven about that.
"…Ask her out," Beast Boy mumbled to the floor.
"And you wanted my advice?"
"Yeah. Where do I take her? What does she do? I'd ask her to a yoga class, but I think the breathing might kill me."
Robin smiled. "She likes to go to the Sad Café. Ask her to go there."
Beast Boy jumped, beaming. "The Sad Café! Thanks, Robin! Have fun with the breathing!"
Robin shook his head, inhaled, and pushed the breath out of his body as he sank back with his head to his knees, arms outstretched before him.
Beast Boy knocked on Raven's door. It opened its usual three or four inches.
"Raven! I, uh … "
"Yes?"
He looked at the door next to her face. It was easier than looking at her. "Well, you haven't been out of your room in awhile, and I know you like to go to … to … " Oh, crap. " … Uh, the Sad Café," thank you brain, remind me to do something for you later, "and I was wondering if, uh … " you'd like to go with me.
"You want to go to the Sad Café." He wondered if the way she stressed the "you" made it a statement or a question. He also wondered if he had managed to ask her out yet, and, if so, why he was still so nervous.
"Uh, yeah! I mean, if you want to."
"You ready now?"
Taken aback, Beast Boy sputtered, "Uh, sure …"
"Let's go."
The Sad Café was a few blocks away, at the intersection of two streets Beast Boy had only been on when they were fighting villains. It was sandwiched between an art gallery and an Indian food restaurant, one which, Beast Boy noted approvingly, claimed its entrees were all vegetarian. He made a mental note to ask Raven about it.
"Raven! Long time, no see!" The barista seemed excited to see Raven again. He was a long, gangly fellow, with dyed black hair that hung over his eyes. Beast Boy was glad that Raven wasn't blushing when he spoke. Very, very glad.
"Been busy," she smiled. "How's it going?"
"Oh, you know, the usual." He grinned. "Speaking of, you do want the usual, I take it."
Raven nodded, looking pleased.
"Hey, one café au lait! And it's on the house! Our superhero's back!"
Raven grinned as she floated over to the far side of the counter, where she received a steaming cup with a small smile. Beast Boy was flummoxed. "Uh, and I'll have a hot chocolate with soymilk, please …"
The barista's friendly demeanor was gone. "That'll be two-fifty."
Beast Boy sat down at the table for two Raven had picked. He was surprised to see her still smiling slightly. "I can see why you like it here so much."
"Yeah," she answered, a little dreamily. "Everyone here's just so pretty."
Beast Boy was startled. "Pretty" was not the first word he would use to describe the Sad Café or its clientele. This place was in a bad neighborhood full of weirdos in black makeup if you asked him, but he looked around anyway, wondering what Raven saw.
He watched a girl in black velvet carry a cup of coffee past the dead tree dressed in white Christmas lights, and the way her skin glowed beside the tiny white bulbs. He watched a lady in a sweeping regal gown gaze adoringly at Jack, who looked up every now and again and smiled back. He saw a group of teenagers, dressed in black, laughing as they shared slices of the Sad Café's Famous Tres Leches Cake, and suddenly he knew some of what Raven saw in this place. These people weren't weirdos here; they were family. And the way they felt here made them beautiful, made this place beautiful. He turned to Raven. He realized that it worked on her, too. And realizing that made it hard for him to speak. "Uh, so …"
Raven stopped gazing at the people around them and turned to him. He realized he was probably going to have to finish that sentence sooner or later. Inspiration struck.
"That, uh, Indian place next door … you ever been there?"
Raven smiled again. "Yeah. The food's incredibly good. The waiters are all really friendly, and they teach yoga and meditation classes upstairs." She blushed. "That's where I usually am Thursday nights."
Beast Boy was embarrassed. He'd never noticed that she vanished on Thursday nights before. He realized he didn't know much about her.
"The sign said all the meals they had were vegetarian. Why didn't you tell me about that place?"
Raven gave what passed for a shrug with her, a halfhearted dipping of her shoulders. "I didn't think you'd like Indian food."
Beast Boy looked dead at her. "Raven. If it's food, and it's not meat, I like it."
For the first time in their acquaintanceship, Raven laughed at his joke.
Beast Boy smiled, gratified. He was going to ask about the yoga studio when a wild-haired girl in fishnet arm socks ran over to the table and threw herself at Raven.
"Raven!"
"Kayleigh. How are you? It's been awhile."
"I was about to tell you the same thing."
"Kayleigh, this is my friend, Beast Boy."
"Oh, hey. Thanks for saving my city!" The girl nodded at Raven. "You too, Rae."
"Aw, shucks," Raven deadpanned.
Kayleigh laughed. Raven smiled and turned to Beast Boy. "Kayleigh practices magic, and she's turned me on to some pretty good bands."
Kayleigh beamed. "It's nothing compared to the magic Raven's taught me."
"Shut it up, you," Raven told the girl. "You know I can't hear praise."
Kayleigh laughed again. Raven pulled a CD out from under her cloak. "I thought you might like this album. I found it over at the record store, and I burned you a copy. It's Kristin Hersh."
"Ooh, thanks! I''ll ask Jack if he'll put it in right now!"
Raven blushed. A few moments later, the song started up.
If I walk down this hallway tonight,
It's too quiet. So I pad through the dark
And call you on the phone. Push your old numbers
And let your house ring till I wake your ghost.
Raven was quiet. Suddenly she asked, "If you could live anywhere besides Jump City, where would it be?"
Beast Boy squirmed. "I've … ah … I've never thought about it before."
"I'd live there," Raven said decisively. She was pointing at a picture on the wall. Beast Boy turned to look.
It was a photograph of a black four-storey building with white railings that looked like scraps of lace. The people in the photograph were smiling at the people who walked down the street, one of whom, a Black man with a saxophone, was waving to the balconies. The people seemed … happy. "That's … pretty," Beast Boy said, startled. "Where is it?"
"It's New Orleans, Louisiana," Raven said, quietly. "I've only seen pictures, but it seems like the most beautiful place in America. All kinds of people live there—artists and writers—Tennessee Williams lived there, and Louis Armstrong." Her eyes seemed far away.
"Who are they?" Beast Boy felt desperately out of his element. He should be at home, playing video games and fighting with Cyborg about pizza toppings.
"Tennessee Williams was a playwright. His work is incredible. He had this line—" her eyes shifted downwards. "'A prayer for the wild at heart kept in cages.'"
Beast Boy looked at her.
I think last night
You were driving circles around me
Something Starfire once said rang in his head—"There is much about Raven we are not meant to understand."
You were in my dreams
You were driving circles
Around me.