I don't own the characters, they are property of DC and Warner Bros.
Time for the big date, as it were.
We hope you enjoy what we have been cooking up...
It was two days later when they got called out to deal with Cinderblock, who was attempting to rob a bank. Attempting as he had smashed through the wrong wall and found himself trying to rob a hat store instead. Fighting Cinderblock was usually a pain as he was large, strong and made of stone, fighting him while he wore a fancy hat was slightly surreal. Things went relatively easy, as Raven was able to wrap him in her soul self and keep him trapped there long enough for the rest of the team to land a combo blow on his head, rendering the villain unconscious. Despite being reminded of both Slade and her father, Raven took it in her stride, much to the surprise of the rest of her team.
It was later that night, when everyone had gone to sleep, that Beast Boy heard a knock at his door. Opening it to find the empath floating a few inches above the floor, holding her cat in her arms and looking nervous.
"I know I said I wanted to take it slow, but I haven't been able to sleep easily tonight after the earlier battle, can I … Just stay with you tonight?" she muttered, all her confidence drained by how hard it was for her to actually turn to someone in her time of need. He smiled, opened the door and gestured for her to enter, feeling oddly happy as she glided by. She had never come to him for things like this before, they were technically dating, sure, but it was still unexpected.
She sat herself down on the edge of his bed, unsure what had driven her to seek refuge with him, and now she was here, even more unsure how to proceed. Beast Boy wasn't much better, the last time they had shared a bed they had passed out from exhaustion, but they eventually came up with a compromise. He lay on his side, arms wrapped around her, her back pressed against his chest while she hugged her cat.
Having sorted themselves out, they quickly dozed off, drawing comfort from each other's presence, which also led to the second nightmare free night Raven has had in months as she snuggled backwards into his warm embrace.
Waking up the next morning, he half expected her to have returned to her room, but was glad to see she was curled up in a ball against his side, as he lay on his back. The cat had been propped up against the wall at some point during the night.
He ran his hand through her hair, smiling as she murmured sleepily and looked up at him with eyes only half awake, before remembering where she was and giving him a good morning kiss.
"I will see you at breakfast," she whispered, forcing herself to stir from his bed as they heard signs that the towers other occupants were stirring too, giving him one last kiss before vanishing into one of her portals.
Well, he thought to himself as he lay back on the bed, there are worse ways to start the morning. Especially as he was certain the way her cloak had swept out the way briefly, giving him the perfect look at her ass and legs, had been very much intentional.
She sensed his focus and smiled knowingly to herself.
As the big day was tomorrow and Raven wanted to keep things between them while she worked on her insecurities, Beast Boy put into action another part of his plan. Telling Robin he was going to start doing more flying and running in animal form to help his stamina and strength, after Cinderblock he felt he could do with the boost. Robin agreed to the proposal quickly, so would no longer question why Beast Boy wasn't at the tower; giving him an alibi.
No one dared check Raven's room anymore, unless it was an emergency, so he assumed she wouldn't be noticed missing either. Though he did come to regret how hard he pushed himself, excuse or not he could do with getting his fitness up, but hadn't been careful and found himself collapsed on his bedroom floor panting.
At least tomorrow would be easier, though beyond an affectionate mental nudge, he slept alone again that night.
When Beast Boy woke up, he treated himself to a nice long shower, to both ease his aching muscles and clean up for later. He carried on his day as normal, though with a little more tidying his room to make it less off-putting to his new partner, before departing late morning on the second of his training flights. This time however, he had snuck one of the holorings out, so he wouldn't be recognised when out in the city.
They met up a couple of blocks from the cafe, they knew what each others holodisguises looked like, so managed to find each other quickly enough; even while not standing out as much as they normally do. Beast Boy even took the initiative, slipping his hand into hers, which after a few seconds he felt her squeezing back, a faint blush on her cheeks as they approached their destination.
They had a look around when they entered, the walls lined with row after row of books, every kind you could think of on display. Around the edges in front of the shelves were individual reading chairs with small tables, then in the centre were tables for up to four people at once. As well as the books, one of the main draws of the cafe had been the variety of food on offer, having an array of vegan and vegetarian dishes, which had drawn Beast Boy's eye.
After finding a few books to read, they ordered some sandwiches to nibble on and took a couple of the reading chairs tucked away in the back corner. Raven had found herself some history books on a subject she had never come across before, glancing over at her date's selection. To her surprise and amusement, he had chosen a book on animal biology. It was thicker than she would have expected him to attempt, knowing he was not the biggest of readers, but given his powers it made sense.
Looks like his claims about wanting to improve weren't as false as he made out, she thought to herself before opening her first book. Given the impressive collection, good food and relative quiet, she would certainly be back.
Normally she would have been distracted by having Beast Boy so close, he was not known for being either quiet or still, but she got to see a different side of him. It might have been due to the weight of the book pinning him down, but he was happily making his way through the tome, tongue stuck out the side of his mouth in concentration as he paused from time to time to make notes on his phone when he found something of interest. It was endearing in a way, seeing him take an interest in something educational like this.
She was also aware she had been staring probably a little too long, he hadn't noticed, but she still glanced around in embarrassment before returning to her book.
When she finished her book, closing it with a contented sigh, she glanced at her communicator and gaped at the time. They had spent the whole afternoon sat there flicking through their books, she was both amazed and appreciated him going to this length for her.
Glancing over, she saw her companion playing on his phone, unsure how long it had been since he finished his book she decided to just put hers back, causing him to jump in surprise as he realised she had surfaced. She chuckled to herself as she slid the book back into its space, out of the corner of her eye she saw him jump up and take the empty plates to the counter, before they gathered their things up and left the shop.
Departing the shop and bidding farewell to the staff, they set off, hand in hand again. When they had got a few minutes away, she pulled him to a stop, smiled at him when he looked at her in confusion, before she ran one hand through his hair and pulled him down into a grateful kiss. She tugged them on their way after that, not even trying to hide her proud smirk at the stunned, goofy look on his face. They might have slept together, but if she could get him like that with just a kiss, it boded well.
"BB, why did you decide to go there for our first date?" She queried when he had regained his composure.
"Well the fair was in a way like a date, which was more aimed at my interests and showing them to you, so thought it was only fair we did something more aimed at you for our proper date" he admitted, grinning anxiously, uncertain how she would react. He was not expecting her to look away, though he could see the red of her cheek to know why.
"Thank you, it was … sweet of you" she managed, treating him to one of her little smiles. "It certainly showed me a lot more about you than I knew before, though I would like our dates to be enjoyed for us both, not just focusing on one of the other."
"I know Rae, but I've never really done this before, things just feel calmer with you around and I want to try and make you feel that as well as how happy you make me. I keep thinking I'm gonna mess up and you will just go back to seeing the dumb mistake I was and sorta still am and…"
His self doubting ramble was interrupted as she had pulled him into a quiet corner they were passing, before pressing her lips against his. Whatever had been coming was completely flattened by this simple act, his arms around her waist as he kissed this beautiful woman back, the one who he had pined over for years and was still amazed wanted him.
"I'm new at this as well BB" she whispered, forehead resting on his, "that was the first date I've ever been on. Let's just take it as it comes and talk to each other, OK?"
"Ok" he murmured happily, resting there with her in his arms, loving the sight of that shy little smile that only he got to see. "I will however be making sure you know how amazing you are on a regular basis."
"I'm sure I could get used to that. Now come on, we had better get going before anyone misses us."
He waved her goodbye, before she teleported back to her room, stealing one last kiss before vanishing. Deciding to have a bit of a slow wander back, he was soon interrupted by the communicator going off, alerting him that a crime was taking place. Calling the tower, he let Robin know he had stopped to refuel in the city, as the alert was close by where he was, he would head over first and keep them occupied until the rest turned up.
Changing into an eagle, he raced over, finding one of the local hardware stores been robbed by gorillas. In helmets no less, though they still seemed pretty normal otherwise. Asides from the carts of computers they were pushing.
The first one didn't even see the blow coming, slumping over backwards as Beast Boy, now transformed into a massive green gorilla himself, laid it flat with one blow. Now they were clear of the store, there appeared to be four more, all stunned by his arrival, allowing him to fling the unconscious one at them. Three went down in a tangled heap as he squared up with the last one standing, smirking as it beat its chest in an attempt to intimidate the strange green ape, before slumping to the ground as well, after getting its ears boxed.
The surprise was so complete, that when the rest of the team turned up, he had already subdued and tied up the five gorillas and was in the process of handing them over to the police.
While the highlight of his day had easily been the afternoon spent in Raven's company, getting praised by the team leader for a job well done was a close second.
Through the eyes of his gorilla servants, a recording was made and transferred back to their base. When their master was informed of their defeat, he examined the playback and was amazed to see the creature than had taken down his minions.
He would need to pay a visit to Jump City sooner than he expected…