Now before I begin and before I get any hate mail, lemme say that yes, Raven will seem horribly out of character in parts of this chapter. There is a reason why! I don't wanna give too much away, but I'll say she's not herself at that moment! You'll find out why next chapter! Oh yeah and I forgot the standard disclaimer about how I don't own the Titans, yadda yadda yadda etc. You know the drill.
It was morning in the Titans kitchen and Cyborg was rejoicing in the fact that Beast Boy wasn't up yet. "Finally, time for a REAL breakfast! Now who wants an omelet?" he offered. Starfire eagerly volunteered. "Ohh! I would enjoy the omelet of eggs please. I shall devour it with the butter of peanuts and the sauce of soy!" she chirped happily.
Cyborg just nodded, not really surprised anymore by the scarlet haired girls taste in food. "Yo, you want anything Raven?" the cybernetic Titan offered. Raven didn't even bother to put down her book before quietly replying "No...thanks." Cyborg merely shrugged and began to prepare his culinary masterpiece.
He had just started to fry the eggs when Beast Boy finally made his way into the kitchen, hunched over and holding his back, groaning softly as if he were in pain. "Friend Beast Boy, is everything fine?" Starfire offered sweetly. "Starfire! You never told me your bed was made entirely of solid wood! My poor back is killing me!" Starfire blushed slightly.
"I am deeply sorry, friend, as it appears I had forgotten to mention the contents of my bed. On Tamamaran, all of our beds are made of solid hard substances as we believe it allows for proper development of the muscles." Beast Boy just stared back in disbelief.
"Development of the muscles? My poor back is ruined!" he whimpered. Raven paused from reading her book and took a sharp breath inward, biting her bottom lip slightly Without saying a word, she closed her book, and resting it on the couch, stood up attempting to make her way to Beast Boy.
Her hands began to glow a light blue, as she had intended on using her powers to heal Beast Boy's back. She didn't use this power often as it can take a lot out of her, but for him it was worth it.
Sadly, the quiet girl never had the chance to, because an eager Starfire inadvertently cut her off. "I have the perfect solution!" she happily proposed. "Tammaranian acupuncture!" Raven felt her stomach tie in knots at her failed attempt to heal him and hurriedly walked past Star and Beast Boy without saying a word, heading straight to her room.
"Dude, what's her problem?" Beast Boy asked. Cyborg merely shrugged as he slid Starfire's omelet on her plate. "Dunno. She's been kinda melancholy past few days...even more so than usual." Beast Boy felt his concern go out to his secret crush, but before he could act on it, Starfire had hoisted him above her head with ease. "This will only hurt for a nanoglorp!" she announced and twisted Beast Boy like a green washrag.
"Urggghpfffhhhlllkkk!" the green changeling grunted, feeling like his insides were being rearranged. His sore back suddenly let loose a loud snapping and cracking sound, like that of a tree branch being broken in half. "Success!" Starfire proclaimed, and gently put Beast Boy back on his feet.
Beast Boy staggered back and forth in a daze for several seconds, before shaking himself back to his senses. "Star! My back feels totally awesome!" and morphed himself into a wide eyed kitty, jumping in Starfire's arms. She giggled and stroked his soft green furry head. "I am glad to see you are feeling better, friend Beast Boy. Now if you would excuse me, I wish to partake of the omelet of eggs." and let kitten Beast Boy jump down to the ground before where he quickly morphed back to his regular self.
The rest of the day was uneventful for a Saturday at Titans Tower. Robin had analyzed the fumes in Beast Boy's room and concluded they were highly toxic. "It's going to take about a week or so for me to come up with an antidote to cancel the smell, till then you need to find your own sleeping arrangements." Beast Boy dreaded hearing this and put off where he was going to be sleeping for the entire day, not wanting to deal with it to the last possible minute.
Finally night time came. Cyborg was charging/sleeping in his room, Robin and Starfire had since retired for the night in their room and Raven hadn't left hers since breakfast. Beast Boy made his way to Starfire's old room and scoffed at the sight of the wooden bed. "No way I'm sleeping here again..." he thought to himself. "...but where else could I sleep?" Suddenly, a sly toothy grin spread on the changeling's face. "It's at least worth a shot."
Raven lay on her bed, the normal soothing white moonlight was blocked out by dark clouds in the night sky. "How fitting..." she thought to herself.
She had been mediating for most of the day, though it didn't seem to do much good. There was still the nagging, uneasy feeling in the back of her soul. She knew what she wanted, she just knew she could never have it. She would cry again, but the last time she did, her powers flared up and caused her book case to explode, sending books and paper all over her room.
She was tired of putting up the uncaring sarcastic front to him, but she had to. For her safety and more important for his. "This is exactly why I can never be with him...or any one for that matter." she reminded herself. She closed her eyelids shut, trying to shut out the world around her...to forget about all that worried her.
But then there was a gentle knock at the door...
Beast Boy was nervous...really, really, REALLY nervous. He clutched Starfire's pillow and blanket tightly to him, staring back at the brass name plate on the door that simply read "RAVEN."
"I can't believe I just knocked on Raven's door..." he muttered to himself over and over again. After a short pause that seemed to drag on indefinitely for him, her door slid open partially. Due to the poor lighting, he could only make out her violet eyes...those oh so beautiful violet eyes.
"What do you want?" she said quietly. Her voice more emotionless that it should be, giving how she was feeling at that exact moment. Beast Boy swallowed his spit and laughed nervously. "Need a roomie?" he finally croaked.
"No." she said and began to shut the door. "Wait!" the green boy protested, sticking his foot inside her room to block the door from being shut. "C'mon Raven, I don't have anywhere else to sleep tonight...you're my last hope!"
Raven sighed heavily and opened the door. "Fine," she said, "but you're sleeping on the floor." Beast Boy nodded solemnly and setting Star's pillow on the ground, morphed into a dog. He walked around in a slow circle on the pillow, making sure it was nice, flat and warm for him, before curling up into a ball and closing his eyes.
"He looks cute as a dog..." she thought, before quickly erasing the thought from her mind. "Stop. It. Raven" she muttered to herself, and with an exasperated sigh crashed her head down on her pillow, forcefully closing her eyes.
"Raven?" came Beast Boy's voice, apparently having switched back to his regular form.
She grit her teeth and ignored him.
"Raven?" he spoke up again.
"Yes...Beast Boy?" she replied tensely.
"Your floor is cold...I can't sleep." he said quietly. Raven groaned and glanced over at her alarm clock. It was already 11:58 PM and she wanted to be up around 6 AM or so to meditate on the roof of the Tower.
"...and?" came her icy reply.
"Well...I mean, I was wondering...that is, if you don't mind..."
"You want to sleep in my bed?" she said bluntly. Even in the darkness, Beast Boy still blushed.
"Well...yeah."
She sighed and rolled over to the left side of the bed, her back facing the right hand side. Beast Boy took that as invitation and curled up in Raven's bed on the opposite side, a good foot between the two Titans.
"A couple of rules," she said, still not facing him "Rule #1 – You stay on your side of the bed. Rule #2 – No snoring, Rule #3..."
"Dude, I got it!" he interrupted "I promise I won't bother you while you're sleeping...", and rolled to his side of the bed, his back facing her back.
Time passed by and Beast Boy couldn't fall asleep, just too many emotions running through his mind. He rolled over and upon viewing Raven's backside, smiled softly.
She had her blanket pulled close to her, so that it hugged her body tightly. Beast Boy traced the silhouette of her frame in the now beaming moonlight, the clouds having parted. From her soft amethyst hued hair, down to her slender shoulders, past her delicate waist, over her gorgeous hips and...
"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer."
Beast Boy let out a loud shriek and practically fell out of the bed. He was so lost in his own train of thought that he had not even noticed she had rolled over. He tried to defend himself, but nothing came out. It was as if his vocal chords had completely and utterly shut down.
"I...I..." he stammered.
Raven giggled and scooted closer to him, her body painfully close to his. "It's ok..." she cooed "...I don't mind the attention."and before Beast Boy knew it, she was stroking her index finger down his chest.
The green jester put his hand on Raven's forehead, testing her temperature. "Dude, are you ok?" he inquired. Her forehead felt cool to the touch, so she wasn't fevered. The now seductive empath let out a cute giggle. "You're so funny Garfield...so handsome and cute too." Beast Boy's jaw dropped at her complete and sudden change of attitude.
"R-Raven...listen to me carefully...what...happened to...you!" he hollered, shaking her slightly. She giggled and kissed his forehead, causing Beast Boy to feel like he was going to pass out. "I just finally realized how much I want to be with you." she smiled.
Beast Boy pinched himself hard on his forearm, causing the changeling to yelp slightly in pain.
"Ok, so we can rule out dreaming." he muttered to himself.
Raven flung her arms around Beast Boy's neck, dragging him back down to her bed. "Hold me." she said softly, her violet eyes fluttering. Beast Boy finally caved in, and wrapped his arm around her, a huge toothy grin on his face. He couldn't explain her sudden change in attitude, but there was no way he was gonnna argue with it!
"Goodnight, babe." he said, smiling.
"Goodnight, hun." she replied, her head resting on a pillow, her arms wrapped around her new man. The moonlight illuminated the two as they drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.