Chap. 18
Love?
After that, Beast Boy did not leave his room for many hours. He lay on his bed, a huge, dopey grin on his face. He was in total ecstasy, experiencing a happiness he hadn't felt since Terra. True, what had happened between Raven and him didn't really mean anything. She still thought of him as a friend only. But now, she would at least think of him as more then an idiot. This could really be how it all starts. He thought, as he put his hands back behind his head. I just have to keep this going. Maybe I could look through the paper, find some play she'd like to see. Yeah that could work..,
But before he could continue with that thought, there was a knock on the door. Shaking off his daydream, Beast Boy got up and walked to the door. Wiping the grin from his face, in case Cyborg had talked to somebody, BB opened the door. However, BB learned that the grin would have vanished upon opening the door anyway. Standing outside, looking quite stern, was Brett and Sara. "Uh, hi guys." He said, hoping that he hadn't done something wrong already. "Can we come in?" Sara asked. "Sure, sure." BB answered, stepping out of their way at light-speed. The two Elementals walked into the room, as Beast Boy shut the door. "Is everything ok?" he asked, as they looked his room over. "In here, no." Brett answered. "For one thing, I think your socks are coming to life." "Naw, they just smell bad." "Dude, one of them looked at me." "Really?" BB said in amazement, starting to look down at the floor to find the sock. "Stop messing with him Brett." Sara said, as she came over to her husband. "Beast Boy, we want to talk to you about Raven."
"W-Why?" Beast Boy asked, as he all but shot to his feet. "Calm down, she knows." Brett said. "You told her!" BB cried incredulously. "Yes. And I for one am glad he did." "You are?" "Of course. I think you could be a good match for Raven. In fact, I think you can prove it right now." "What do you mean?" "Something's happened with Raven. She called me into her room to help her with a song she'd been working on. I guessed after three seconds that it was about what happened between her and Rorek. But even though she was singing about it, she seemed…… accepting of it. And you know Raven, accepting pain quickly is not her strong suit. I talked to her about it, and she said you said something that helped her." "Well yeah." The green one replied. "I was going to her room, to talk…" "Right." Brett interrupted. BB blushed, but continued. "Anyway, I heard her working on that song. It wasn't going well and basically, I got involved and helped her figure out a good rhythm for the song." "Wait that was you?" Sara asked in amazement. "BB, that song had the craziest rhythm I've ever played on. How did you figure that out?" Beast Boy simply pointed to his drums. Sara looked over at the instrument and just shook her head. "But what did you say to her?" Brett asked.
"I figured out it was about Rorek too. She asked me about Terra, and I told her that the pain doesn't go away, but it gets easier to deal with." "And that was it?" Sara asked. The green one nodded, and looked from Knight to Knight, hoping to see some kind of reaction. He got one a second later, as Brett suddenly stepped forward. Reaching forward with his arms, the bat placed both hands on BB's shoulders. Looking directly into the shape-shifter's face, the bat said two words; "Thank you." "Uh, you're welcome?" At that, both Knights smiled. "Beast Boy, I'm serious. Whatever it was you did or said, it really helped her. Raven's been content, if not unbelievably happy for the last few hours. And you helped to do that." "Aw, it wasn't that big a thing." Beast Boy shrugged. "Maybe not to you, but it was for her." Sara said. "She really took what you said to heart. I think she respects you a little more because of it." "Really?" "Yes. It took some real maturity to say something like that and mean it. We both respect you more for having said it." Sara finished. "You may end up as Beast Man yet." Brett added. "And who knows? I'm starting to think that Raven is starting to feel the same. She seemed quite happy when she talked about you. But if she is, then you have to do one thing for me, Greenie." Beast Boy leaned in close, waiting to hear what the bat would say. "Grow a spine." The bat said.
"Huh?" the green one said in confusion. "Lemme rephrase that. You need to stop doubting yourself. You never believe in everything your capable of. Hell, you didn't believe that you'd done all this with Raven until we told you seven times. Have some confidence in yourself, and Raven will follow." "You really think so?" "I know so. In fact, why don't we go find out right now?
Unbeknownst to any in that room, a similar conversation had been happening on the other side of the Tower, in a certain empath's room. Raven had been sitting on her bed, looking over the written lyrics to her song, trying to even out some of the rough edges. Ever since she'd learn to play, Raven had gotten into transcribing poetry into song. It really made her write better, or at least that's what she thought. As she looked over the next line in the sheet, she wondered briefly if she should try getting a band together or something. After all, now there was finally a drummer in the Tower…. But before Raven could go any further on that subject, there was a voice at the door. "Friend Raven! I wish to speak with you." "Coming Starfire." Raven said, as she got up and headed for the door. Opening it, the empath was suddenly bombarded with a stench that was not of this world, or perhaps even this solar system. Covering her nose in protest, Raven asked, "Star, what is that?" "Do you like?" the young alien asked. "It is a new perfume I have created." "May I ask how?" "Oh, I simply noticed that I was low on all the bottles I have, so I combined them into one large bottle." "Um Star, you're really not supposed to do that." Raven gasped. "Why not?" "Because the idea of having different perfumes is so you can smell different ways. Now you just have this one, mixed-up scent."
"But Robin said he liked it." Starfire said, as she walked into the room. Great, nowthat stench isgonna be in here. Raven thought as she shut the door. "Well Robin's your boyfriend Star. He has to say that." "Oh blast, you are right. I should know better then to ask his opinion now. He would have been much more truthful before." Star sighed then and said, "But I would not give up what we have for the world." "I'd hope so. You two spent long enough getting together." Raven said, as she moved to hide the lyrics. "I mean, Robin could not have been more dense." At that, Star's face suddenly took on a more serious look. "True, he was not much better then you are."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Raven asked in surprise. Sighing, Starfire said, "Raven, I would not say this if I was not your friend. But I feel that you are ignoring something important, or rather someone." "OK, I'm still not getting it." "Have you noticed Beast Boy lately?" "What does he have to do with this?" Raven asked, though she felt something jump inside her at the mention of the shapeshifter. "I think that…. Perhaps after what has happened, or perhaps for longer then that,…. But I believe that he may have a 'crush' on you." Raven stood dumbstruck for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
"Star, come on! Me and Beast Boy? We're total opposites. It would never happen." But Starfire only shook her head. "I know it seems that way, but Raven, he has been acting much like Robin was when he wanted us to get together. He has made with the jittering, he is always in a hurry, and he always looks like he wants to say something. Has he not done anything to make this clear to you?" Raven would have shaken her head, but then she remembered what had happened this afternoon. Her face went pale as she said, "Maybe, I-I don't know. But it could have been a coincidence." "It was not." Starfire said. "I also found this in his pile of things today." With that, she held out a copy of Emily Dickinson poems. Taking the volume with shaking hands, Raven said, "But I didn't take this out. And nobody else here likes this stuff….. Oh God."
Raven all but fell onto her bed, the shocked look not leaving her face. "You did not know, did you?" Star said. Raven shook her head. "You must deal with it sooner or later." "But I don't know how." Raven said. "I mean, I don't even think I like Beast Boy that way." "Even if that is true, you must tell him." Star said. "He has a right to know how you feel." Groaning, Raven through her hands over her face. "Why did this have to happen now?" she moaned. "Rorek wasn't enough, now I have to deal with this? And I can't believe that you figured it out first." "Well, I have seen it before with Robin. That is why I came to speak with you. I did not want you and Beast Boy to experience the awkwardness that Robin and I did in getting together. You must try to sort out your feelings towards him. Or are you sure that this is how you feel towards him?"
Raven would have given an answer, but before she could, there was a second smell in the air, a smell like brimstone. Before either girl could react, a blinding flash filled the room, with an explosion to boot. Both of them were knocked to the side, hitting the wall hard. Raven went head first, and was knocked unconscious. Starfire however, fared better, and managed to stay awake. But her view of what was happening was groggy. She could see two figures moving through the room. One of them moved to the chest by Raven's bed. Reaching inside, it grabbed an object from inside. "That… is not…yours.." Star muttered as she struggled to get up. But before she could, a huge hand wrapped itself around her head, cutting off her air. "We're taking it anyway." A familiar voice said, as Star began to pass out from lack of air. But before she went under, Star heard the other figure say, "All right, let's get the witch and get out of here."