Hey guys, it's Thanksgiving Break for us Texans, so, voila, I'm updating again because I have nothing to do via hashtag no-life problems. I don't own Teen Titans, Pierce The Veil, or DC Comics, by the way.
A double thanks with tissues for those who read and/or reviewed the last chapter. :-)) Enjoy this next bit for me, please.
-Izzy
Southern Constellations
It was a strangely and seemingly abnormal day amuck the Titans in Jump City. No villains were triggering store alarms or making elderly women scream their unsanitary little dentures off which caused the 5 well-known, Californian super teenagers to ponder on what may have caused the lack of disturbances running loose as well as the agonizingly low crime rate the past week or two; surpassing that of the Great Hibernation of '08. Perhaps the villains were taking a long, "well-deserved" vacation for their foofaraw and puerile, frivolous efforts at let's say, taking over the world, or shoplifting Macy's.
Fortunately for them, though, because the Teen Titans themselves were occupied in their usual normalities; Robin working out non-stop 24/7 at the sweat smelling, almost greasy atmosphere of the training room, Starfire watching documentaries revolving around the nature of the supposedly interesting specimen, the fungi, Raven sipping down her small cup of herbal tea while atop the couch reading a book, and Cyborg playing his usual 2-3 hour rounds of video games with…
Wait a minute; maybe things weren't so normal, after all.
Beast Boy wasn't in the commons room making his typical failed attempts to beat Cyborg at Midtown Madness 2.
But no one had actually noticed the lack of changeling amid the unceasingly noisy yet undeniably peaceful lounge area because everyone was too absorbed in their own individual activities.
Until…
The lights all over the tall T-shaped tower began to flicker rapidly and intensely like fireflies buzzing around on a late midsummer night; carefree and brimming with glee. After 30 seconds of unnoticed and unkempt on-and-off, the lights finally made the unfortunate decision to shut themselves off completely.
Silence.
Then the sounds of Starfire's shrill and earshatteringly fearful screams, Cyborg's irritated moans, and a pained, rough grunt from the nearby training room filled the entire tower. The empath seated on the couch lost her grip on the book she had been reading, a slight vein pulsing and throbbing on her pale forehead at the buffet of sounds that had been provided seemingly unwelcomingly to her.
"QUIET!" she shouted in the loudest voice the superhero team had ever heard her intone.
A teal, almost fluorescent light began to materialize in front of the teenagers' very eyes; the owner of said miracle belonging to the metal man sprawled on the couch.
"I installed a flashlight into my circuits," Cyborg beamed as the room was soon illuminated with the blue emitting from Cyborg's robotic arm.
"Most marvelous work, friend Cyborg!" Starfire cheered, spinning around in one of her famous aerial circles, arms thrusted in the air as if some sort of New Years Party Celebration had been occurring at the very moment.
"Yay," Raven stated blandly, trying to focus on the book laying on her right side.
The doors slid open to reveal the Boy Wonder sauntering towards the rest of his team, minus the missing changeling. "Alright, team. It looks like there has been some sort of power outage all over Jump City," he informed in his most matter-of-factly voice with corresponding attitude. Allowing himself to place his green gloved hands on his hips, he gestured to Cyborg, who was still draped on the couch in a succumb looking fashion. In a very command-o voice, Robin said, "Cyborg, go power up the generator. Everyone else remain calm and stay where you are." Cyborg mumbled something incoherent under his breath but nodded, hoisted his half-human, half-metal body off the comforts of the couch, and ran to go accompany their generator. Robin nodded back approvingly, and with his left hand, he began counting off the team, mouthing each number subtly. He mouthed the number "four" as he pointed to himself, and puzzled, he began bobbing his head around in order to spot the missing member.
"Huh," he said to himself, slight astonishment rising up in his voice. Turning to the empath who was now meditating instead of reading, he asked in a demanding demeanor, "Raven, where's Beast Boy?"
Grumbling a bit, she opened one of her violet colored eyes; the irises fuming themselves, too. "How should I know?" she questioned, a bit harshly. Deciding to discontinue her meditation, she sat up on the worn-out couch, thinking to herself a bit unintentionally on the whereabouts of her annoying green crush, I mean, friend.
The heavy, thudding footsteps of Cyborg began to retreat to the commons area. "The generator's busted." He delivered the message with upsetting lament as he sunk down into the couch.
Starfire gasped a bit too loudly for their tastes. "Oh, friends! What are we going to do?"
Robin tousled his overly-spiked, jet black hair in extreme frustration and sighed. "I guess we'll just have to live with the light that we have and wait for the power to come back." Turning to Raven again, he ordered, "Raven, go look for Beast Boy. It's important that we all stay together in this situation."
"Why do I have to do it?" she asked in her monotone, a hint of exasperation wavering in her low voice.
Robin waved his hand in a "whatever" manner. "Reasons unnamed. Now go." He slyly took a spot next to his long-time crush, Starfire, and the two grinned awkwardly and widely at each other.
Raven "ugh'ed" and floated up from her position in the couch. Well, he's probably not in his room, or he would have busted out of their screaming, she thought logically to herself. Tapping her chin lightly with the mere tips of her cool fingertips until her brain rolled onto a satisfying conclusion. Dark energy surrounded her for a brief 5 seconds, and then, she found herself on the roof of their T-shaped home.
Sure enough, the mischievous changeling was lying down on said roof, arms tucked behind his head, the typical goofy grin washed over his jade-colored face.
I found him. Woohoo, she dryly cheered, lightly walking to where he was lying down.
Thanks to his highly-adapted, sensitive ears, the pitter-patter of footsteps caused him to jerk up and rub the back of his neck; the grin still implanted onto his face, his fang innocently sticking out of his mouth. "Hey Rae," he welcomed, patting down a spot for the purple-haired teenager to sit down.
His face is strangely cute when he does that, Raven thought to herself as she accepted the invitation of sitting down next to him. Oh, Azar. I did not just think that, she mentally scolded herself at the sheer thought of Beast Boy being…cute.
Of course BB is cute! You sooo have the hots for him! Her disgustingly joyous Emoticlone Happy squealed in the adorable singsong voice she possessed.
No, I don't! Raven, to her dismay, denied, trying to flick the overly-gleeful Emoticlone out of her thought bubble.
You so doooooo! Happy exclaimed, yet again, in her merry attitude, skipping about boisterously in Raven's cluttered mind.
…I know, I do, the empath sighed, admitting a surprisingly quick defeat at her mental argument with her pink-clad Emoticlone. It's not just that…he's just, ugh, dare I say, amazing in general. Where do I even begin? Okay, first he has those adorable pointed ears that protrude so childishly and innocently out of his little head. Then, he has that smile…damn that smile, and his fang always sticks out so cutely out of his thin little mouth…but enough with his looks, haha. He's always there for me even when I'm so abrupt and cruel to his immaturity and friendly nature, and-
Sensing the uncomfortable silence between the two of them, Beast Boy cleared his throat. "Um, so Rae…what are ya doing here?" He paused a bit and squirmed closer to the now attentive half-demon. "I bet you missed me! You missed me, didn't you?" he declared, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
Oh, gosh. He is too cute when he does that. Too cute, she thought miserably. Thankful that her hood was concealing her blushing face, Raven simply scoffed. "Don't call me Rae," she started. "And no. Robin told me to go look for you because the power went out."
Aww, come on! Happy once again interjected. You soooo missed him!
The green teen's apparently "adorable pointed ears" drooped at the fact that Raven did allegedly not miss his presence. "Oh," he replied, trying to maintain the cheerful attitude he started off with. Silence again engulfed the two teammates as Beast Boy decided to lie down again, motioning for the other Titan to do the same. A bit reluctantly and unsurely, she did so and came face-to-face with a stunning and magnificent view that couldn't compare to anything she had witnessed recently: the starry night sky. Though Jump City's persistent and unsettling pollution usually disrupted communications and views of the glorious night sky, the tower was tall enough so that the view could still be treasured appropriately and in an almost HD version by the team.
"So, what are you doing up here, anyway?" Raven asked a bit curiously, though she attempted not to show it. "You've been gone the whole day."
Completely oblivious to the wondering tone Raven had presented him, Beast Boy sighed dreamily. "I've been here lying like this…watching the sky and all. Gosh, it's so beautiful during the night and day, isn't it?" He turned his head so that he facing her. And the sky isn't the only beautiful thing up here right now, he sighed to himself, wishing to get a glimpse of the purple-haired beauty. I just wish she knew that I came here to think about her, too. It's kinda weird how the sky reminds me of her… He groaned inwardly trying to shake the thoughts of such fantasies and desires away from him and turned his gaze back to the sky; all the stars twinkling in their own chorus of infinite "hallelujah"s, mesmerizing all those who took the valuable time to observe their exquisite and eminent glory.
"Yeah," Raven simply agreed. She did agree with the changeling, though. The sky was marvelous looking…far more beautiful than almost anything she had ever laid her violet colored eyes on. Oh, Azar. This is almost as benefiting as meditation.
"Have you ever done this before?" Beast Boy inquired, breaking the short quiet that had developed between the two stargazing friends. "Look at the stars, I mean?"
"Not really." The porcelain skinned empath turned her head to face him, her hood gingerly falling off; tugging gently at small wisps of her purple hair that licked her cheeks gracefully. Beast Boy turned as well and could feel his face growing warm with a fierce red blush. Oh my God, he breathed to himself. It really should be illegal to be that…beautiful. He was dying to take his hand and brush the hair away from her face.
No, that'd be stupid, he countered, his ears drooping. She'd throw me off the tower.
The pair quickly turned away from each other; the blush now mutual and dripping hazily off of their cheeks as silence continued to tug at the two Titans sprawled on the rooftop.
Beast Boy gulped and tried to keep the dying conversation intact. "Why?" He tried to restrain himself from even taking a quick peek at her, finding the girl to be too distracting to the task at hand.
Raven sighed, also trying to contain from looking at the boy who was lying down next to her. "I guess I never took the time to actually do it," she started. "In Azarath, we never had skies this beautiful, and even if we did, I wouldn't be able to look at them, anyway. The monks who raised me there never let me out of their temple…because I was half-demon and all, and…" She paused to draw in another breathy sigh, and Beast Boy swore to himself that he had never heard anything more precious in his entire life. "When I came to Earth, I never took the time to admire the simple creations nature had bestowed on us…" She paused again and felt small tears about to drop down her face. Damn it, Raven. Don't cry. That's stupid. Taking her index finger, she raised it to her eyes and wiped the group of tears assembling at the corner of her eyes. "I was too busy running away from my past," she added a bit quietly.
N-now he's going to th-think we're s-sappy little schoolgirls, another one of her Emoticlones, Timid quietly peeped, concealing her tearstained face with the blundering gray of her cloak.
Raven felt herself mentally nod and suddenly felt something brush against her arm. Turning to her side, she saw Beast Boy's face staring intently at hers; their faces about 4 or 5 inches away from bumping noses. Emerald met amethyst, and Raven felt her heart begin to pump more and more blood; the pace of her circulatory system seemingly beginning to speed up by the second. The sight of him that close to her stunned her a little because she tried to scoot away in fear of more emotions getting loose, but the changeling sturdily held her arm down, took the other arm, and gently used his hand to swipe away the tears that were previously forming on her eyes.
The two of them felt their cheeks flush red again, but neither seemed to notice each other's blossom colored faces.
"I'm sorry, Raven," he quietly answered, suddenly flailing and then retracting his arm away from her face.
The girl graced herself with a soft, delicate smile, and Beast Boy felt his heart quivering joyously at the sight of it.
"At least you get to see them now…I mean, better late than never, right?" he added, his eyes never leaving Raven's.
The smile didn't leave her lips. "Yeah. The night sky really is beautiful…"
Beast Boy chuckled to himself. "Not as beautiful as you, though."
Aww, shit.
The moment the words had made their devious, furtive getaway, the two teens glanced at each other: the indigo cloaked one was wearing a grateful and almost…shy smile, while the shape-shifter had face palmed with such a painful yet frigid force that could cause volcanoes to erupt in all of their sizzling, smoky-hot majesty.
"Do you really think that?" she suddenly questioned the shocked Beast Boy, her chalky complexion melting into a crimson color.
He slowly nodded, returning the blush. "Of course I do, Rae. You're more beautiful than any other girl I've ever met." God, you're such a goober, he snapped at himself.
"Don't call me Rae," she responded a bit too quickly and bluntly for both of their tastes, her quavering voice trying to revert back into her monotonous drawl.
Eager to swap subjects, Beast Boy tapped her lightly on the shoulder and pointed at the sky beaming down at them. "Have you ever tried looking for constellations?"
The blurt-out relieved the emotionally conflicted teenage girl as she simply snorted and looked up to where his fingers were pinpointing. "Wow, big word alert. Watch out, SAT," she commented, regaining her deadpan monotone at last.
Beast Boy felt himself grin his toothy grin, and from his peripheral vision, he could witness Raven gazing up to where he was pointing at. "Look. It's Sagittarius the Archer." The stars were lined up to formulate an almost stick-figure looking human being with a makeshift bow and arrow.
Squinting her amethyst shaded eyes, she nodded. "I see it." She then turned so she was facing him once more. "Mind showing me more?" Her voice was one of fascination for the mysterious shapes that could be formed with the twinkling lights that smiled gracefully at them from the dark, almost pitch-black sky.
Beast Boy could feel his grin enlarge as he skimmed the spacious area for another constellation. He wagged excitedly at another spot in the sky, and Raven felt herself roll her eyes in mock annoyance. "That one is Scorpius the Scorpion," he stated proudly; his fang poking out of his mouth, glimmering with a brash pride.
"I never would have guessed," she sarcastically remarked, but she could indeed make out the faint tail of said scorpion constellation. Her eyes were seemingly glued to the endless blackish-blue above her, but at this point, she didn't really mind. The Azarathian enjoyed spending time outside admiring nature, and she received the bonus of doing it all with her one and only Beast Boy.
After Beast Boy finished naming two or three more of the stars' masterpieces, Raven turned her attention to the "all-knowing" changeling and vice versa. "So, who taught you all of this?"
Beast Boy sighed and leaned back on his lean arms, licking his lips; causing Raven to have the sudden and strange urge to lean closer and kiss them. "When my parents and I were in Africa, they'd show me the night sky and everything. They'd teach me about astronomy and stuff…like the constellations and the planets and the moons. I was only little and everything, but somehow, I seem to remember all of what they said to me…about the Milky Way and Ursa Major and everything." She noticed him sniffle a little bit, probably reminiscing all the moments he had spent with his parents and of course, the dreadful boating accident that had led to their deaths. A surge of sadness for the both of them passed through Raven's inner gut, and she quickly tried to shake it off.
"I never knew that about you," she said quietly, her starstruck gaze never faltering. "That's really nice."
"Yeah."
A cool breeze infiltrated their peaceful serenity, and Raven felt herself involuntarily shiver; the evil silhouette of the harsh wind embracing her bare legs with a sinister smirk. Finally taking her attention away from the stars and their sky, she looked down to see small, prickly goosebums begin to form almost avidly on said legs of hers. She wrapped herself up with her blue cloak burrito style to no avail; her teeth beginning to chatter and whole body system starting to collapse into a windy surrender.
Now I wish my uniform included tights, she groaned disappointedly at herself.
Obviously still snuggly in the heat his own uniform provided him, Beast Boy turned to look at the shivering empath lying down beside him. Concern furrowed on his thin black eyebrows. Aww, man. She's freezing, his brain barked at him. Do something.
"H-hey, Rae," he said nervously. Trying to keep her freezing status as clandestine as humanly possible, she simply turned to him with an unconvincing, wavering smile. "Don't call me Rae," she replied, trying to remain monotone.
Beast Boy frowned. He wasn't that stupid. Being the good friend he was, he could obviously tell when something was wrong.
"You look cold," he firmly reported, instinctively wrapping his arms around her petite, trembling body.
Oh my Azar, he's so warm, Raven thought to herself, seizing the opportunity, no matter how out of character it was, to snuggle into the fold of his arms; a light blush beginning to form on both of the Titans' cheeks. The changeling also took this chance to pull her closer and squeeze her tighter; the blush reddening on Raven's cheeks as he did so. The Azarathian still couldn't believe it: Beast Boy was cuddling her. He was fucking cuddling the fucking fuck out of her.
And she liked it.
Hehe, this is the best day everrrrrr! Happy cheered, doing a backflip somewhere in Nevermore.
He so loves us, Affection blushed, trying to suppress the extreme urge to fangirl squeal by shrouding her pleasured face with her lilac colored hood.
Raven found herself to be speechless.
Meanwhile on the other side of the door…
Dude, you're holding her! Beast Boy's brain chirped with a squee. He could feel his frown turning upside down into his toothy, fanged smile. "Uh…are you still cold?"
Burying her face out of his supposedly snuggly arms, Raven looked up at his admiring, gentle, caring emerald colored irises, smiling a shadow of a smile and shaking her head.
His smile widened.
I never want this moment to end, he declared to himself. The green teen could feel himself leaning closer to kiss the empathic girl on the top of the head. A lavender tinted with a dab cinnamon scent entered his nostrils, and he sighed happily.
Raven, on the other hand, was still mustering up the courage to say something about the joyous occasion that was occurring between her and her fellow Titan.
Maybe you should tell him you loooove him, Affection suggested quietly, still crimson under her floppy hood.
But why? Raven questioned the hopelessly lovesick Emoticlone sighing dreamily in Nevermore.
It's incredibly obvious that the feelings are mutual! Affection exclaimed, elated. He's cuddling you right now…I mean, he wouldn't cuddle Cyborg or anyone else. Girlish giggles echoed throughout her joy-filled mind at the thought of the green changeling snuggling up to his mechanical friend.
Still enveloped in Beast Boy's arms, Raven sighed loudly. Luckily for her, he didn't notice, simply because he was too into the moment the two were currently in. But what about my powers? She retorted to the somewhat stubborn-as-a-mule Emoticlone.
Look at your cloak, the lilac cloaked doppelganger shot back smugly, arms folded across her chest primly.
Navigating her violet colored eyes down to her uniform, she gasped at the color her cloak had transformed into: white.
Her emotions were in complete balance.
Her emotions were not going to go completely haywire.
It wasn't a frivolous infatuation of any sort.
She really was in love.
So that's why nothing blew up, Raven muttered to no one other than herself.
The solitude did not last long because within a small matter of 5 seconds, Beast Boy jumped back; releasing the shocked and practically dumbfounded Raven, much to her dismay.
"Duuuuude," he started, pointing to her cloak slightly accusingly. "Your cloak is, like…white."
Raven rolled her eyes out of automatic instinct. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."
He tilted his head in the slightest puzzlement. "But…why?"
I guess I really do have to tell him, the purple-haired teenager reluctantly stated. He wants to know why…and lying to him would be completely fruitless, anyway…
The flurry of her multiple Emoticlones praised Azar and bursted into an unruly, yet somehow calming chorus of "good luck"'s and "you can do it"'s.
Take a deep breath, Raven. You're not going to die. The worst that can happen is that he rejects you…
Her heart shed a small group of crystal clear tears at the thought of Beast Boy turning her down and sending her to the firey pits of the dreaded Friend Zone.
But you have to try, Raven, a giddy voice in her head breeched pleadingly.
"I love you," she quietly answered, words stumbling and falling. The empathic girl turned away from him almost immediately after the words were uttered out of her thin, pale lips.
And then…
Nothing.
Stifling the teardrops that were about to fall, Raven felt herself shrug and get up from the previous heap she was on the cold tower roof. "I'm sorry," she whispered, a stray streak of tears waterfalling down her rosy red cheeks.
But before she could float dejectedly away, a strong hand pulled at the hem of her now-white cloak.
Slowly spinning her head around to find the force tugging at her, she locked eyes with the green changeling who wore a soft, sincere smile on his equally rose-colored face.
He finally spoke.
"Don't go." There was a sense of longing dappled in his scratchy voice that corresponded well to the look his forest green eyes possessed.
The teenage girl started backing up so she was now sitting cross-legged next to him.
"Why?" Raven questioned, her voice's volume still patched into the quietness it had been her past few sentences. Another cold breeze filed in causing her to shiver once more, cursing at herself for not owning a decent pair of pants.
The next few minutes were a blur for said girl.
Beast Boy smoothed down the wisps of silky, purple hair the wind had tousled onto her cheeks and brushed them away with the tips of his gloved fingers. Then, he leaned forward slowly and steadily and locked his lips softly with hers as if she were an extraordinarily special Christmas ornament he didn't want to break. The kiss was loving and gentle; not at all the raucous and reckless ones one would find on a teenage sitcom like Degrassi. Raven's heart fluttered at the 12 seconds of passionate and fluffy lip action she received from the green teen. Raven's enthused Emoticlones began to celebrate by throwing an extravagant dance party in Nevermore, much to Rage and Timid's absolute disliking. This is what you've been waiting for, she smiled to herself as she shyly kissed him back with the same gentleness and compassion.
When they had finally withdrawn, both of them had wide smiles inscripted onto their beet red faces.
"Because I love you, too," Beast Boy finally answered genuinely. His eyes were still gazing affectionately at the pleased empath, who couldn't help but attempt at maintaining her massive (for her, anyway) smile while shuddering at the coldness of the wind that intruded on them.
"Are you cold again?" he worriedly questioned her. Without giving her time to answer, he hurriedly wrapped his arms around her again, squeezing her harder than a dog's favorite squeaky toy.
"You didn't give me time to answer," Raven gritted through chattering teeth, the smile, much to her annoyance, never abandoning her newly kissed lips.
"I'll never let you freeze without me, Rae," Beast Boy simply stated, kissing the top of her forehead again. "Never."
The enthralled empath nestled her head against the crook of his neck, his arms still enclosed securely around her.
I can't believe this is actually happening, they both thought to themselves in pure bliss.
"So, um…" Beast Boy coughed. "D-does that mean we're…dating?" The words felt truly foreign on his tongue; not quite familiar with this "dating" custom.
Raven giggled lightly at his question, which the changeling thought to be oddly cute. "If you're into those labels, then yes."
Not wanting to spoil the perfect moment currently unfolding before his very eyes, Beast Boy decided to grin candidly, his eyes never leaving his new girlfriend. "I love you, Rae."
Also not wanting to ruin what was occurring by correcting her changeling beau, Raven kept the unwavering smile embedded onto her facial features. "I love you, too."
And so they sat there for hours and hours on end until morning, admiring the luminesce of the stars emphasizing the already natural beauty of the endless evening sky that stretched out for miles and miles.
They couldn't help but thank the southern constellations winking down knowingly at them for being the reason that brought them together at last.
The ending was a bit rough, so yeah, I'll be editing this some. D: But for the most part, I hope you liked it at least a little bit. I'll try to write "The Boy Who Could Fly" as fast as I can. Well, poop, thanks for reading. Yay. And don't forget to review and stay tuned, my duckys (Mad Mod alert).
-Izzy
