(A/N) Not having time to write like I used to is what I get for wanting a job that makes me fully financially stable. Stupid world needing money before they'll give me stuff.

Disclaimer – I was debating what kind of disclaimer I could do that would equal or possibly even top my previous ones when I realized that I don't need to since most people either didn't get my previous ones or didn't read them. What I really need to do is just find a way to write out "I don't own the Teen Titans" that amuses me.

A Year In The Life – September – You are the music while the music lasts. (T. S. Eliot)

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The music drifted lazily throughout the tower. It wasn't hard to know who was playing it since he had always had the largest collection, but also because he was the only one home, or at least, that's what he thought. In truth, Beast Boy was now being watched as he danced (sort of) around the room, singing along to one of his favorite songs as he picked up trash. It was cleaning day and as usual he was the slowest, so while everyone else had finished their chores and gone out to run errands, or on a date as Starfire and Robin had, he put on his music; as loud as he wanted, whatever he wanted, with (and this was the key to it all) nobody to make fun of what he might pick.

It's not that easy being green

Having to spend each day the color of the leaves

When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold…

Or something much more colorful like that

The person watching couldn't help but smirk at his song choice, a hand rested on her hip as she waited for him to notice he wasn't alone. The fact that he was singing along made it doubly poignant. But then she started to notice that he was singing better than he normally did.

It's not easy being green

It seems you blend in with so many other ord'nary things

And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're

Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water

Or Stars in the sky

Now, Beast Boy didn't have a great voice by any stretch of the imagination. What he did have was a kind of raspy, kind of squeaky voice that hit the right notes most of the time; in short, nothing great, but not bad.

This time though he seemed to have a deeper connection to the song, the kind of feeling and emotion coming through that lets the listener know the singer really believes what the song's about. It caused her smile to fade from one of amusement to one of fascination. (And considering how long the song was, that's quite a rapid change.)

But green's the color of spring

And green can be cool and friendly-like

And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain

Or tall like a tree

What made this little bit of private time different for Beast Boy was that when he finally did notice that he had an audience, he found he didn't mind; his smile shooting out to its widest at Raven.

When green is all there is to be

It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?

Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful

And I think it's what I want to be

Beast Boy made an exaggerated, flourishing bow at the end of the song. He was in the middle of getting back up when the next song kicked on. Raven clapped once making sure that her smile was well hidden; years of practice making it an easy feat.

"When'd you get back?" Beast Boy asked as he started to tie off the garbage bag he had filled during his dance.

It struck Raven how content he seemed, something she found herself shamefully envying. "Wasn't that song a little too obvious?" She asked, ignoring his question.

Beast Boy shrugged. "Doesn't mean I can't like it. Besides, it's not like I'm the only one who's got a song that fits like that."

"So if I asked you for one that fits Cyborg you'd tell me?"

"Mister Roboto by Styx," he answered quickly.

"And for Jinx?"

Beast Boy laughed. "Too easy, Jinx by Green Day."

"Did you make a list or something?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Kinda, but only in my head. I liked that Bein' Green is totally about me, so I listened to my stuff seeing if anything fit anybody else like that."

A small amused smile crept onto Raven's face. "So who else did you give a theme song?"

Laughing appreciatively at the joke, he challenged, "Just try and stump me!"

Finding herself in the rare instance of having a conversation with Beast Boy that didn't involve one of them getting annoyed with the other she stood thoughtful for a moment. "How about Cinderblock?"

Beast Boy's fang started to show, his smile growing out of control. "Thick as a Brick, Jethro Tull."

Raven couldn't help smiling lightly at the song's title. "Billy Numerous?"

"Billy Don't Be A Hero, Paper Lace." He answered laughing a little now.

"Gizmo?"

Beast Boy started laughing even before he could tell her. "Young, Dumb, and Ugly by Weird Al."

"At least you're honest. What about Mammoth?" She asked starting to enjoy this as much as he was.

"Don't know if you've heard of the song, but he's Jock-O-Rama by The Dead Kennedys, it totally fits him."

Deciding it was time to get more difficult Raven threw out, "Killer Moth." She smirked at Beast Boy's deep, thoughtful pose.

"Well…Audioslave's got a song called Moth. It's even got this line about the wings being made of cloth." He looked up to see if it was good enough for her. Seeing her looking amused with a slight (very slight) bit of being impressed mixed in caught him off guard and he laughed in the way he always did when things got beyond what he could keep up with.

"What about the rest of us here in the tower?" Raven asked trying not to sound like she was curious about what song he had picked for her.

Beast Boy's voice shook with a slight bit of nerves that his smile tried to hide. "Well, uh, I used to have two songs for Robin, but I got rid of one of them." He paused for a bit. "You're not allowed to laugh, but, uh, Robin was kinda, sorta, my hero when I was younger. I mean, he was Batman's right-hand man, his sidekick, so I picked Holding Out For A Hero by Bonnie Tyler. And before you start laughing at me about how it's about a girl waiting for the guy to save her, I don't like him like that…he was just, you know, my hero."

Raven smirked lightly. "Beast Boy, when have you known me to laugh at anyone?"

He blinked. "What about…never mind." And before Raven could ask him what he was about to say he started talking again. "That other song I had for Robin was when he was doing that Red-X stuff and then working with Slade. A really cool rock piano guy wrote this song called Trusted that just sounded like what had happened, just different."

"What was his name?"

"Huh? Oh, Ben Folds."

"I've heard of him. Didn't he have some song about joining the army?" Raven said, slightly proud of the fact that she knew some of the music that Beast Boy did even if it wasn't to her taste.

Beast Boy smiled. "That's him."

Raven decided to guide the conversation back to where it had been. "What song did you find for Starfire?"

"Songs." He said, laughing at himself. Seeing Raven's questioning look he explained. "She's like a kid who just downed fifty pixie sticks on their way to Disneyland. Half the stuff on the radio's about being happy. It's hard to pick the right kind of happy that's the same as Starfire's."

"So what'd you come up with?"

Beast Boy looked a little annoyed with himself. "Too many. There's Don't Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin, Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz, Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles, Red Headed Woman by Bruce Springsteen, ugh…It'd be easier if she wasn't this almost always happy person and a wreaking ball in a fight. It's a weird mix that makes it harder for me to find a song that works by itself."

Raven would have voiced her opinion about how no person was ever fully described in any one song, but Beast Boy had started to rant and talked over her. "I mean, mine fits 'cause it's totally about how hard it is being different but being ok with it, Cy's is funny 'cause it just is, Robin's is totally how I felt when I was little, and everybody else was just too easy, but you and Star are just too hard to think up just one song for, nothing's good enough."

"So what songs did you pick for me?" She asked over Beast Boy's muttering about needing a song about the happiest little hand grenade so that Raven had to repeat herself, something she didn't like having to do and liked even less given that she was always nervous when people gave their views of her. "What songs did you pick for me?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I didn't tell you those yet." He looked a little sheepish, for some reason this didn't help Raven's comfort level…strange. "Well, when we first got together as the Titans and you were always off in your room and stuff I went for something funny 'cause…'cause that's how I deal with…"

"Everything," Raven intoned and Beast Boy nodded smiling guiltily.

"So I thought All By Myself, the original version by Eric Carmen fit you," his eyes fell to the floor, "but then there were all those times where we got to know each other a little better and you weren't really trying to be by yourself, just…I don't know…safe, I guess." He stopped studying his shoes and looked up. "But the rest of the songs that make me think of you when I hear them are all really cool and it's too hard to just say any of them is better than the others." He watched Raven closely to see if she was annoyed or enjoying herself or just for anything to get a read off her so that he wouldn't get himself in trouble, but she was only calmly listening, waiting for him to continue. "Uh, Little Red Riding Hood's one of them. Some group called Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs wrote it."

Raven let slip a smile. "I don't really wear much red."

"I know that!" he answered quickly. "When I listen to it I just change it to Little Blue Riding Hood." Raven let out a small, quick "hm hm" that might have been a laugh, but Beast Boy couldn't decide if it was or just a cough. "Black Magic Woman by Santana's pretty good, Spooky by Atlanta Rhythm Section's another cool one, and Witchy Woman by The Eagles is a classic. There're tons of really good songs about cool girls and magic." And before Raven could thank him for the compliment with her poker face still intact he added, "It just sucks that none of them are good enough."

Her chest feeling a little tight, Raven forced in a deep calming breath anyway and asked, "Why aren't they good enough?" Just after the words had left her mouth, Raven wished she could take them back. "Why" was a dangerous word when used too casually. What if they just weren't about the right kind of magic? Or what if she was his new idol now that Robin didn't seem to be? Or what if they were romantic songs and he didn't like that? What if? What if? What if? Raven was still stuck in possibilities when Beast Boy answered.

"'Cause it's you."

She didn't remember having leaned onto the arm of the couch while they were talking, but was glad she had since it afforded her a comfortable place to think, if only for a moment or two. "I'm not sure I understand."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes trying to look exasperated but ruining it with a smile. "Come on! You're Raven, THE Raven," he emphasized. "You're smart and funny and pretty and you totally kick butt in a fight and you even have little you's in your head! If all that's not cool, then nothing is."

Raven smiled with a slight tinge coming to her cheeks, but kept her face towards the window, or the wall, or any place that wasn't directly at the boy. "Thanks…that's…a pretty good compliment."

"Well, I like being complimentary. Want a cookie? They're complimentary too."

Raven rolled her eyes at the joke. "Sure."

Beast Boy walked the trash bag off to their incinerator chute and grabbed a couple cookies off the fridge on his way back. "Frosted oatmeal or chocolate chip?" He held out one choice in each hand.

Raven took the oatmeal cookie and started nibbling at it. "They're not really in my head, you know."

"Huh? Who-wha-oh, they're not? Where are those other you's then?"

Raven smiled lightly. "It's a magic mirror, Beast Boy. It's not really anywhere, which is why I have to use the mirror to get there."

"But they really are you, right?"

"Parts of me."

"See? I knew that, they're all cool too."

Raven got an idea; a wonderful, terrifying, exciting idea. She liked the idea far too much to keep it to herself. "So, you've got songs picked out for all of them, too, right?"

"Is that a challenge?" He asked as he grew a grin.

Raven nodded, her smile doing its best to hide her nerves.

Beast Boy stroked the beard he didn't have. "Interesting. Alright, I'll do it, but you gotta tell me who the ones I didn't get to talk to were. I only know happy Raven, sad Raven, and brave Raven."

"You're close, but I just call them by what color they wear. Pink for happiness, grey for sadness and fear, green for bravery, red for anger, yellow for intelligence, orange for rudeness, brown for wisdom, and purple for affection."

Beast Boy walked back over to the kitchen. "You want another cookie or some milk while I think? I'm trying to not use any songs I already used for somebody else."

"I'll take both to give you a little more time."

Beast Boy handed over the snack, flopping onto the couch afterwards. "Does it count if I can only think up something based on the color?"

"Sure, I'll go easy on you."

"Okay then, first one is Pretty In Pink by The Psychedelic Furs. I already said you're pretty, so happy you gets to be pretty too."

"I like that." Raven said with a soft tinge coloring her cheeks.

Beast Boy smiled slyly at the pink. "That color looks good on you." Which of course had the effect of causing Raven's blush to deepen. "For sad Raven you could use pretty much any song from Beck's Sea Change album, but I think Guess I'm Doing Fine works best. He wrote that album after a really bad breakup, so the whole thing is pretty depressing, but it's all still really good music. Some reviewer dude said it was sadly beautiful."

"How do you remember all that?"

"Nothing else in here to get in the way." He answered, knocking on the side of his head. "There's lots of songs about getting angry, so I went for something funny. William Shatner, the guy who played Captain Kirk on Star Trek did this cool song called I Can't Get Behind That where he's just ranting for the whole thing about stuff that gets him mad."

"He can sing?"

Beast Boy laughed. "Not really. He does a kind of spoken word to music, but it's not rap."

"Weird."

"Sure it is, but his stuff's really good. His first album got pretty silly 'cause nobody had tried what he was doing before, but there's good stuff on there too."

"You'll have to show me some time."

"Totally! Hey, I just thought one up for that brave you, I Won't Back Down by Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers."

Raven nodded approvingly. "Not bad. You're half done."

"I totally want to cheat and say Bright as Yellow for that yellow one, but it doesn't mean bright like smart. Can I use another Ben Folds one?"

"Sounds fair, you're not reusing a song, just the artist."

"Then I'm going with Your Most Valuable Possession." Avoiding Raven's coming question he added, "That's the name of the song. It's just an answering machine message his dad left late one night, but it's pretty cool."

"Have you thought up anything for brown? That's wisdom and common sense."

"Okay, don't get mad, I'll explain, but the Beatles wrote a song called The Fool On The Hill that works. It's totally about a dude who doesn't get caught up in what people thing about him and instead does the things that let him see stuff like it really is. And I'd say that's a wise thing to do."

"I'll buy that."

"And Weezer wrote a song called Pork And Beans that fits for that rude one. The whole line the title comes from is 'I'll eat my candy with the pork and beans excuse my manners if I make a scene'. I think it works for burpy you."

"Fine, my gross side can have the Weezer song. Affection's all that's left. What've you got?"

"Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix, too easy." Beast Boy stood in a triumphant pose before letting it crumble as he dropped back onto the couch. "Okay, I'm kidding, that song's only barely close. The problem is you mean affection, like for anything, not just love."

"Yes, it's more generic."

"So it covers love and friends and food and books…"

"And music."

"…And music and everything you could care about. That's tough."

Raven moved from the arm of the sofa onto the cushion next to Beast Boy. "Come on, you got a song for the part of me that thinks washing my hair is optional. This should be easy."

Beast Boy threw his hands up in the air. "Fine, but no making fun of me because of it." He gave a sidelong glance at Raven. "My Favorite Things. It's from a musical, and Julie Andrews sings it really well, but no telling Cy I watch musicals, okay?"

"You liked The Sound of Music?"

"So what? It's good stuff and Julie Andrews is awesome in it and…"

"What?"

Beast Boy grinned deviously. "You watch musicals too?"

"I didn't say that." Raven was sitting as innocently as she could.

"And I didn't say My Favorite Things was from The Sound of Music; you did."

"Alright, I like watching a musical every now and then. I don't tell on you, you don't tell on me. Deal?"

"Under one condition. Next time you feel like watching one, I get to join you."

"Deal. But it'll probably be Sweeny Todd."

"With Johnny Depp? Sweet. Wait! I just thought up one more song; it's awesome!"

Raven shifted in her seat to more fully face the green teen.

"Next time you get mad at me, you can totally use this one - Army Of Me by Bjork. You know? 'Cause there really is an army of you's."

Raven gave his shoulder a shove. "I'm guessing I'll need that sooner rather than later."

"Probably." He said with yet another smile.

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(A/N) Another chapter already? Yeah, well, it's not all that hard when the chapter's already half done (wrote a lot of this four years ago when I was first working on this story) and you can't sleep because it's over eighty degrees inside your home. Ugh.

Only one guesser has come forward about the coded message in chapter 3. Nobody else is going to give it a go? ;-)