All that wasn't surprising. It was pretty much what the others had expected out of him. What was surprising was that Raven was as flustered as he was. She saw that he was looking at her and found, to her eternal shame, that she couldn't make eye contact. Instead, she looked at the ground and actually scuffed her foot for a second before noticing what she was doing and stopping herself. She didn't know if it were actually happening, but she felt as if she were blushing to the roots of her hair. She was thankful for her hood. Nothing happened and that was a big deal. Raven was acting and feeling like a nervous teenage girl and nothing was exploding or randomly flying around. Her meditations had been sufficient, apparently. This realization made her smile her tiny, barely there smile. She raised her eyes from the ground and looked at Beast Boy, hoping to let him see her, hoping he would understand what the smile meant.
He did see the happiness in her face and it made him return the smile, not with the broad, theatrical smile he so often falsely wore but with an honest grin that actually made Raven's stomach feel funny. Neither of them spoke.
They were interrupted by a nearly stifled giggle from Starfire. They both turned and looked at their friends. Star was covering her mouth and looking deliriously happy. Robin was actually whistling and staring at a store window with intense interest. Cyborg had a panel open on his arm and was studiously fiddling with something inside and muttering something about cheap parts.
Raven cleared her throat delicately. "Well," she said, "that was embarrassingly cliche."
The uncomfortable moment now over, Cyborg chimed in, "AW... it was cute! Raven, you were all girly!" He glanced at Robin as he spoke. Off her glance he held up both hands, "Hey, you just said I couldn't tease Beast Boy, not that I couldn't tease you."
"Very funny, Cyborg," Raven said in her dangerous voice.
"Raven and BB, sittin' in a tree," Cyborg sang.
"You told him not to make fun of me?" Beast Boy said to Raven in a curious tone.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Raven nodded, still glaring at Cyborg. "I figured a date with me would be difficult enough by itself."
"First comes love..."
Beast Boy looked confused, "I don't see why."
"Then comes marriage..."
Raven looked in surprise at Beast Boy and said in her infuriatingly calm voice, "You know, that's actually very..." she looked as if she were struggling with the word, "sweet." Still looking at Beast Boy, she pointed at Cyborg.
"Then comes BB... AAAAHHH!" Cyborg was plucked, mid-mocking lyric, into the air by his foot, spun several times and deposited, still upside down, against the wall of a nearby building. When Cyborg opened his eye after recovering from the impact, which was controlled and not nearly enough to actually harm him, Robin was looking down at him.
"Aren't you a little old to be singing that song?" Robin asked.
-----
Once back at the tower, Robin went looking for Beast Boy, catching him in his room, fresh from the shower. Leaning against the door frame, he said. "So, you and Raven?"
"Weird, isn't it?" Beast Boy replied. "I have a date with Raven. It's like I can't get my mind around it."
"Neither can anyone else."
"So," Beast Boy said, sitting on the edge of his bed, "is this the 'Don't mess up the team' talk?"
Robin frowned. "Am I that predictable?"
"Yes."
"Beast Boy, don't let this mess up the team," Robin said.
"OK," Beast Boy said in bland agreement.
"I don't think you're taking this seriously enough," Robin said, his eyes narrowing.
Beast Boy shrugged. "You don't think I take anything seriously enough."
"Sometimes you don't."
"You have no idea how seriously I'm taking this," Beast Boy said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"Just what I said," Beast Boy said. "Raven, she said... well, no, that's none of your business. Let's just say I never saw this coming and I was as shocked as anyone else and I damn sure don't understand it but I do want to take an honest swing at it. I want to see if..." He stopped and shook his head. "I'm taking this seriously."
Robin nodded. "You'll remember that however this thing comes out, you two still have to work together." Beast Boy nodded in return. "That won't be easy, if this goes badly." Robin took a deep breath, "Now, I've done my leader thing and I'm just going to ask as a friend. Is this a one date thing?"
"I don't know," Beast Boy said. "That's why you do the date thing, to find out."
"That makes sense," Robin said. Then he grinned, "I bet it doesn't hurt that she's so hot."
"Oh, dude," Beast Boy said, shaking his head in something like awe.
"I know!" Robin said, stepping into the room a bit, "Is there any such thing as an ugly superhero girl? I've never seen one!"
"Me neither. I mean... Starfire. Wow!" Beast Boy said. It needed no further comment.
"Yeah," Robin said emphatically, and then his voice sank to a whisper, "and we live with them. How do we do that and not loose it?"
"I have no idea," Beast Boy said. They both seemed enormously relieved to finally be saying these things.
-----
Raven was making an effort not to hide in her room after the embarrassment that occurred after the fight. It wasn't that she was especially looking for Beast Boy, but she certainly wasn't avoiding him. He Robin had returned to treating her completely normally and Cyborg was polite and just a little wary when he accepted her apology. The problem was Starfire.
As she left her room after cleaning up, she actually heard a giggle behind her, down the hall, and a quick swish of air as if someone had flown quickly around the corner when she started to turn. She turned and glared at the corner till Starfire meekly peeked around, only her eyes visible. "Hello, Raven," Star said, waving.
"Are you following me?" Raven asked dryly.
"Um, no?" Starfire replied, sounding as if she were trying on the words for size. Raven crossed her arms and tapped her foot till Starfire stepped around into sight. "I simply desired to speak to you about your wonderful new romance with Beast Boy but I do not want to get picked up and thrown into a wall." She somehow managed to sound apologetic, nervous and excited at the same time.
Raven regarded her excitable friend with mixed fondness and exasperation. "I won't do that to you. I did it to Cyborg because he was singing that stupid song."
Star looked confused. "But it seemed like a very nice song of celebration and hope about the newfound love..."
"Hold it right there," Raven interrupted, "first it is not a nice song. It's a childish song meant to embarrass those being sung about."
"Then Cyborg deserved the being thrown through the air."
"Secondly, and more importantly, there is no 'newfound love' between Beast Boy and I," Raven said.
"Then it has existed for some time and you are just now telling us?" Starfire asked.
Raven cradled her face in one hand as if she had a headache coming on, "No, Star, no."
"Then why are you doing this?" Star asked.
Raven turned and went back into her room with a slight air of dejection, "Come in," she said. "I am not having this conversation in the hallway."
Starfire followed quickly. "Oh, Joy! We are having the girl talk!" Raven winced a little but sat on the bed, cross-legged. Starfire lay on her side at the foot of the bed looking up towards Raven. "So, if you are not in love with Beast Boy, why are you doing the dating and the kissing?"
"You move right along, don't you?" Raven asked. "I don't know that there will be any... of that second thing you said."
"Oh," Starfire said, "Then I don't understand."
"Look," Raven said carefully, "I have, in recent weeks, began to feel a certain attraction to Beast Boy and I have always liked him as a person so I, or he and I, are going to see what happens. We may have a terrible time and never want to be anything more then friends."
"But you want to be more then friends?"
"Well, there's a lot to..." Raven began.
"Either you do or you do not," Starfire interrupted gently.
Raven wanted to snap at Starfire. She wanted to be rude and end this conversation because talking about her feelings was completely alien to her. She wanted to say something cynical with a bit of dry humor so they could move on to something else and she wouldn't feel ashamed. Instead, and she told herself it was so as not to hurt Starfire, she tried to be honest. "It isn't easy for me, Star," she said. "Please understand that this is all so hard. I just don't have any experience." Starfire moved closer and held out a tentative comforting hand. To the surprise of both of them, Raven took it and held on tight. "It scares me."
"You are brave," Starfire said gravely.
"Not in this."
"In all things." Raven still didn't answer and after a moment Starfire went on. "You don't have to say anything to me, but you do have to decide for yourself and sometime you will have to tell Beast Boy."
"I do want to," Raven said softly.
Starfire nodded seriously and then wisely changed the subject. "Then will you now let me give you the makeover?"
Raven smiled. "No."
-----
Dinner that evening had so much awkwardly forced normalcy it was downright painful. Beast Boy was clearly trying to be nice to Raven without being too familiar and it came off as simply awkward. Raven found it both amusing and, even though she would never say the word twice in in day, sweet. She tried to return his gesture but it came off as stiff. Starfire was actually quieter then usual, still affected by the talk she had with Raven. Robin and Cyborg both talked of anything they could think of that was neutral and couldn't look at each other without smirking. After eating quickly, Robin stood abruptly and said, "I need to do some research."
"I'll help you," Cyborg said quickly. They both bolted from the room.
Starfire stood and smiled. "I am going to leave the two of you alone," she said almost primly, "and I am not going to be deceptive about it." She hovered out of the kitchen.
Raven and Beast Boy sat looking at each other across the table, which was still littered with the detritus of the meal. Beast Boy stood and started clearing the mess away. She watched him for a moment. "You've been quiet," she said. He turned and leaned against the counter, smiling at her. "In fact, I think you may have been avoiding me."
"Yeah, I guess I have," he said.
"Is there a problem?"
He shook his head. "Nope. Not at all, but I do have a reason."
At one time she would have made some acerbic comment but she had learned that Beast Boy sometimes deserved a little more credit. "And it is?"
"The last time we talked, you said you needed to meditate," he said, "and, you know, process some things. I figured that when you were done with that, you would let me know. So, I left you alone."
She looked at him in surprise. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "I'm done."
"Cool," he said simply and went back to cleaning.
She watched him for a moment. "So," she said, sounding unsure, "what now?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm actually pretty confused."
Raven was so releavedshe visibly settled into her chair. "Me too."
Beast Boy took a chair across from her. "At least we're providing our friends with entertainment."
She rolled her eyes. "Have you gotten the 'Be careful for the sake of the team' talk from Robin yet?"
He nodded ruefully. "After we got back this afternoon. When did he get you?"
"Last night. Cyborg thought I was being controlled by a villein."
Beast Boy looked offended. "You mean my supposed best friend thought that a girl had to be under mind control to want to go out with me? Jerk."
"I agree, but I thought it was more that he thought I would have to be mind controlled to want to be with anyone," she said. "I've decided to be the bigger person and let it go."
"Does being the bigger person include throwing him into a wall?"
"That was because of the song," she said, "I never claimed to be the bigger person about something that stupid."
Beast Boy chuckled. "I bet Starfire is driving you insane."
If she had rolled her eyes any further they would have left the room. "She is desperate; truly, deeply desperate, to give me a makeover for tomorrow night."
Beast Boy snorted in derision, "Like you need one."
Her cheeks colored a bit and she self consciously shifted in her chair. "Um, thank you."
"Speaking of which," he asked, "are we wearing our costumes?"
"You're green and I'm grey with purple hair," she said. "Not much use trying to hide."
"Not really," he agreed. "You know, we might make the papers. We do draw some attention."
"We'll be dogged by the paparazzi," she said sarcastically. "We aren't that famous."
"Hey! I got three fan letters last month and you better watch out, lady. One of them was from a girl."
"How old was she?"
"That is so completely irrelevant," he said loftily.
"Could she write in cursive yet?"
"No, but I'll have you know that her crayon printing was very neat and she dotted her I's with cute little hearts."
Raven shook her head. "I'm wasting my time. There's no way I can compete."
"It won't be easy," Beast Boy said in a very serious tone, "but you're a spunky chick. You got a shot."
"I don't know if I'm more bothered by being called 'spunky' or a 'chick'," Raven said reflectively.
Beast Boy smiled at her. "You know, I was afraid we would, well, have trouble just talking."
"The thought had entered my mind too," she said.
"We seem to be doing all right."
"You aren't acting like an immature jerk or, God forbid, telling jokes."
"I don't know if I'm more bothered by being called and immature jerk or being told that I'm not funny," he said.
Raven sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. She stared hard at Beast Boy for a moment before she spoke again. "You know I was joking but you are being... different."
He seemed suddenly shy. "I was just, I guess I was just not doing the stuff that I know annoys you."
She frowned. "You have to be yourself," she said. "That's the whole point."
"I'm being me. This is me," he said. "I'm just..." he trailed off and looked down at the table.
"Just what?" she asked softly.
Beast Boy raised his head and met her eyes. He took a deep breath and spoke very seriously. "I'm trying to be the me that's good enough for you."
Raven looked at him, shaking her head slightly, "What makes you think... never mind. Listen, I knew who I was asking out. You're the person I decided that I could maybe have a real relationship with."
"A real relationship?" he asked.
"Maybe."
He smiled. "Maybe is good. I can work with maybe."