Silence.
Blissful, beautiful, utterly peaceful silence.
The common room was empty, and Raven was making the most of it. Hovering a few inches above her favourite couch, she let her mind go blank and calm flow through her psyche.
Deep breath in…. hold… hold… and release. Deep breath in… hold… hold… hold… Her breath escaped her in an irritated hiss as she felt a familiar sprightly presence enter her domain. She cracked an eye open to glare at the changeling sitting next to her on the couch.
"So a nun, a baker and a hobo walk into a bar-"
She rolled her eyes as he launched right into one of his jokes. He'd been on her case more than usual the past few weeks, and was driving her to distraction whenever she had a quiet moment. He seemed to be taking it as a new type of game: 'How Far Can I Push Raven'.
She was not amused.
Having failed to get a response from the brooding girl next to him, Beast Boy changed tactics.
"Hey Rae, wanna come down to the park with us? We'll play some games, get some sun, y'know have some fun!"
"I don't do 'fun'." She stated flipping up her hood, hoping to scare him off with her cold tone.
"Awww, c'mon, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? Just for a little while… or just a game of tag or something…. How about just a minute outside…. just a toe out of the tower?" The Titan pleaded to what may as well have been a wall in a cloak.
His resolve strengthened suddenly: he had an idea.
"C'mon Raven, I'm not leaving here without you. I'm gonna keep bugging you until you come out!" He announced cheerfully, and then set about doing just that.
Raven grew irritated beyond her breaking point, and decided to abandon the common room for her own lockable sanctuary.
She walked purposefully down the corridors of the Tower, tuning out the green menace that followed her every move. His distractions became more desperate as they approached her room, and he finally fell silent just outside her door. Curious at the change, Raven turned to face him and was surprised to see a serious expression on the joker.
"Raven, why don't you let us in? Why can't you let yourself laugh, or have fun? Why do you lock yourself up in your room? We're friends, aren't we? So why can't you ever act like it?!" He was shocked at the strength in his voice, and his cold words, but bit it down and waited for a reply. He tried to read her shadowed face but it was as infuriatingly expressionless as always.
"You want to know why?" She asked in her typical calm monotone, sounding almost flippant. "Alright, I confess. I'm a horrible demon-child who will kill all of you in your sleep. I'll destroy the world and slaughter everyone in it, lighting the sky on fire in an everlasting crimson twilight."
She stared back at him, calm mask revealing nothing. His expression, though, was easily read.
He was angry. Angrier than he had ever been. His face took on an unpleasant snarl as he bit out his words, not caring to soften them.
"Can't you be serious for a second?! This is important, and I thought you knew that. But no, you have to joke around! I'm serious Raven! Can't you give the 'heart of ice' act a rest for a moment and tell me what the fuck your problem is?!"
He'd gone too far, and he knew it the second she turned to her room and opened the door. He struggled to rein in his temper as the door slid shut, keeping himself from going in after her. The lock thundered its finality down the hallway. He turned to enter his own room; somehow he wasn't much in the mood for fun.