Chapter Three
Beast Boy landed harshly in a pile on Nevermore's uneven ground. Two seconds later Raven landed in a similar fashion beside him.
She stood and brushed herself off "No matter how many times I come in here I can never land on two feet." she grumbled.
Beast Boy laughed and got to his feet. "Well I'm here and I'm not being attacked by-." his words were cut off as a hooded, pink, face appeared in front of him. He yelped and jumped a few feet.
"Hiya BB! Long time no see!" Happy exclaimed. She was hanging upside down. Actually she was standing upside down in the air.
"Hi Happy." Beast Boy returned the greeting leaning back on his heels so their noses weren't mashed together.
Raven watched in slight amusement. Happy had always been crazy about Beast Boy. Always repeating his corny jokes to her fellow emotions.
"B-Beast Boy?" a soft voice said in amazement.
The changeling turned and saw Timid staring at him with wide eyes. She was clutching her cloak around her small body looking just as frightened as the last time he saw her.
"Hey Timid, how ya been?" Beast Boy asked kindly
"Good." the emotion replied.
Raven watched in silence as the three talked. After a few minutes they walked over to her. Beast Boy had an arm draped around Timid's shoulder "Well now where oh fearless leader?"
"Knowledge's library; I'll gather everyone there." Raven replied setting off down the crooked pathway.
As they walked the trio met up with Wisdom, Bravery, Gross (Beast Boy laughed at that for about ten minutes) and finally… Rage.
The red emotion was sitting on top of one of the huge floating asteroids in the sky. When she dropped down in front of them everyone took up battle stances, even Timid.
"Hello Beast Boy." the voice no longer sounded masculine but more like Raven's normal voice. And her eyes weren't red or glowing "Been a long time since I've seen you."
"Should I be worried?" Beast Boy whispered to Wisdom who considered then shook her head
"No, since Raven feels love for you no one here can hurt you. Not even Rage."
"Unfortunately she's right as usual." Rage sneered "Even if I wanted to I couldn't hurt you. But I don't want to so there's no reason for you to act like little girls."
Raven ground her teeth but let the glowing power fade from her hands "Even without him you're still the same aren't you?"
Rage snickered but Beast Boy caught a look of sadness in her purple eyes "I'm Rage, Raven. I feel nothing but hate and malice for everyone." she replied.
Raven shook her head "I'm no going to argue with you then." the troop continued on their way and Rage trailed behind her face hidden and her head bowed.
They passed through an archway and Beast Boy found himself surrounded by shelves of books! They were everywhere! Some were in piles on the floor; others were neatly arranged on the ceiling-to-floor shelves. Others still were scattered around on various tables. One of which was occupied by a yellow cloak, a purple cloak and a deep maroon cloak.
"Knowledge?" Raven called out "I brought everyone here."
The yellow emotion's head raised "Good. Sit anywhere."
The six emotions and two people obeyed. Beast Boy sat cross legged on the floor with Timid beside him while the others floated in the air. Rage however stood a few feet away watching.
"As Raven has already said I'm Knowledge." the emotion pushed her huge, round glasses up further on her nose "And this is Love and… uh Lust."
Raven paled slightly and several of the emotions snickered. Beast Boy however cocked his head not really understanding what the fuss was about.
The emotion in the maroon cloak sat next to him with a smile on her face. Timid flushed as Lust's eyes combed Beast Boy carefully
"Lust stop that," Raven snapped "Beast Boy probably finds that as disturbing as I do." she growled.
Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Now he understood why Lust was named Lust. And personally it freaked him out.
"Oh I don't think so." the emotion cooed smiling at the changeling flirtatiously. Her knee brushed Beast Boy's and he jerked it away out of habit. Raven hated being touched.
In her corner Rage mumbled "Stupid flirt." under her breath. Beast Boy only caught it because of his unnaturally sharp hearing.
"Now if Lust would please keep her hands off Beast Boy," Raven said glaring at the emotion "I would like to speak with all of you."
"I'm sure you all know what happened on the rooftop… Good. Then you also know that… I can allow a little bit of freedom for all of you." the room buzzed with excited voices. Even Timid joined in the quiet chatter "But!" Raven interrupted "If something happens to Beast Boy or any of our friends…" she trailed off not needing to finish.
Love spoke in her soft gentle voice. Her cloak had long since returned to its normal deep purple color. It had turned silver because of her sadness "Then everyone will be on their best behavior." she cast a glance at Lust and Rage who both nodded in agreement
"Good." Raven said "Everyone is dismissed."
Gross, Bravery, Love, and Happy all left the library. Wisdom and Knowledge disappeared among the rows of shelves. Lust left after realizing Beast Boy wasn't going to give into her charms. Timid and Rage remained even though the latter still stayed in her position beside a book shelf, in the shadows
"You know I don't really like Lust much." Beast Boy admitted rubbing his knee.
"Good. I was hoping you wouldn't." Raven replied quietly.
"But," Beast Boy continued "I do like everyone else." he smiled at Timid who managed a shaky grin in return "And Lust isn't bad just… kinda… she freaks me out basically."
Raven allowed herself a small, short laugh "I would agree with you on that one. I don't even know where she came from. She just appeared with Love."
"And where did Love come from?" Beast Boy asked in curiosity
"Well…" Raven paused
"She appeared when Malchior," Rage spat with venom "first appeared. But when he tricked us she went back to being just Affection. About two months ago she became Love again."
Beast Boy looked at the hateful emotion who just glared at him "You know Rage, you're included in 'everyone else'." he said softly.
"Liar." Rage sneered "No one likes me. Even Love avoids me when she can. And Raven would kill me off if she could."
"Well, I like you. I mean… Raven's sarcastic a lot right? So that's gotta come from you right?"
"Right." Rage agreed cautiously
"And I like Raven when she's sarcastic… most of the time. Some of the things she says can even be funny. So if her sarcasm comes from you and I like it that means I like you."
Rage's mouth opened slightly but she snapped it closed "You have no sense of logic whatsoever." she retorted flushing angrily.
"No, you're just being stubborn." Timid replied her voice quivering slightly "Beast Boy said he likes all of us. And Beast Boy's never lied to us before."
"What do you know? You hide inside your own cloak so much half the time you don't even know what's going on." Rage replied nastily.
"Hey!" Beast Boy exclaimed "Cut it out! Look Rage you don't have to believe me but I said I like you and I mean it."
The red cloaked emotion just grumbled to her self but she didn't leave. Nor did she approach. She just stayed in her corner.
Finally Raven stood "I think we'd better be going home before Robin thinks we were kidnapped or something."
"Ya and I'm going to be teased beyond all belief by Cyborg." Beast Boy muttered "Ah well." he said shrugging.
As they headed towards the Forbidden Door Timid tugged onto Beast Boy's hand causing him to pause for a minute
"You… You'll come back won't you?" the anxious emotion asked watching him with large purple eyes.
"Of course I will." Beast Boy replied giving the small sentiment a hug "Even if I have to sneak into Raven's room to do it." he whispered.
"I heard that." the Goth said crossing her arms. A small smile twitched onto her face "I'll let him visit Timid. I promise."
The grey emotion smiled and walked away to find Bravery in Raven's vast psyche. Beast Boy and Raven continued on to the Forbidden Door.
When they got there Rage was sitting beside it, her hood was pulled over her face and she was tracing lines in the dirt "I thought about what you said." she murmured as the two approached "And I'm… sorry. For being so mean to you. I just can't help it."
"Don't sweat it." Beast Boy replied.
Rage lifted her head and for a moment a smile crossed her face. She stood and after a moment of hesitation gave the green teen a kiss on the cheek before vanishing into the ground.
Raven rolled her eyes and pulled the changeling after her through the doorway.
They landed on Raven's bed on top of each other. Raven was on the top but when she tried to scramble away Beast Boy held her for a moment.
Raven tensed. She knew Beast Boy wouldn't hurt her but it still made her nervous. After a moment the young man pressed his lips to hers.
A shiver went up Raven's spine at the contact but this time she kissed him back. Her hands reached up and cautiously ran through his hair. Around them her powers sparked and popped softly but Beast Boy didn't bat an eyelid. He just kept his hands on Raven's back where he was stroking her spine like you would a cat's. The touch made a soft moan come from the half demon girl. Breaking away for air Raven leaned against Beast Boy's chest and smiled as he continued to rub her back and neck
"I love you Raven." he whispered in her ear
"I love you too… Garfield."
The black power sparked again and took the form of two birds above the bed. Their heads rested together creating a rough heart shape.
(Aw. How cute! Lot's of fluff and just normal teen stuff. Anyway I'll be putting out another 1shot pretty soon I hope. And the sequel to the Outsiders will probably debut at the end of next week. If you haven't read Past Mistakes and the Outsiders I would encourage you to do so.)
