Ball Games 4 - Connection
Sorry for the delay, I've had a rather busy time of the last few weeks. Let's get this story going again!
Beast Boy was up early. Very early. His excitement made sleep elusive and caused him to wake up after a relatively short time. And so, Raven walked into the usually empty common room and stopped dead, spying Beast Boy in the kitchen, humming while he cooked his breakfast. Her scent reached him and he just about managed not to knock everything over in anxious anticipation. He glanced over his shoulder and cast a nervous smile her way.
"Morning, Rae!" he said. Raven continued to stare, though her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Hmmm... morning. You're up awfully early," she inquired. He shrugged his shoulders, concentrating once again on what he was doing.
"Couldn't sleep," he said simply. "I was kinda annoyed at first but... then I got thinking this might be a good opportunity." Raven had moved closer, aiming for her tea,
"Opportunity for what?" Raven replied, causing Beast Boy to jump at her proximity.
"Well... we talked about spending time together, right? I thought it might be more... educational if the others weren't around for some of it," Beast Boy stated. Raven, now boiling her kettle, gave him another suspicious, almost defensive look.
"And just what is it you think will happen when we're alone?" she said. Beast Boy shuddered under the weight of her cold accusation.
"Whoa, Rae, nothing like that. It's just.. this is gonna be hard and it's only gonna be harder with Cyb-... the team watching us." Raven raised an eyebrow at the slip but let it go for now, returning to her tea. Once she had finished, she took her seat at the table. Not long after, Beast Boy joined her with his breakfast: a plate of waffles. With a wink, he deposited another plate in front of Raven.
"I didn't ask for anything," she said. Beast Boy swallowed his mouthful of waffle.
"I know," he replied, evasively.
"I hope you realise this won't earn you anything," Raven said, pointedly. He only nodded, grinning when she started eating. After a time, Raven noticed his eyes were on her. She stopped eating and faced him. "What?" she said. Beast Boy's eyes widened for a moment and he suddenly became very interested in his breakfast.
"N-Nothin', Rae!" he stammered. Raven set her fork down and gazed patiently at him.
"Beast Boy. I know it is difficult but, if we are to do this, I need you to be honest. I can't interpret your emotions and it gets very confusing like this. I need your honesty... to help me understand." He stared back for a few moments, then set his own fork down.
"Okay... I guess I've become much more... fascinated. By your mouth." He blushed heavily as he said it, and Raven tipped her head to one side.
"My mouth? Why?" she asked. He looked at her desperately, not wanting to explain further. But he soldiered on.
"I'm... I'm curious about how - phew, it's gettin' warm in here - how it feels, Rae," he finished lamely.
"You want to... touch my mouth?" Beast Boy groaned.
"I want to kiss you!" he snapped, slapping his hand across his mouth afterwards. Raven goggled at him.
"Oh..." she said. Then she looked toward the door. The open door. "Oh!" she exclaimed again, more urgently this time. In the doorway stood Cyborg, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open. Without speaking, he walked slowly toward Beast Boy. When he reached him, he turned Beast Boy's chair to face him, then put his hands under his arms and lifted him up, almost gently, so they were face to face. Just as Beast Boy was beginning to squirm, Cyborg spoke in a long, drawn out whisper:
"I always knewwwwwwww..." Beast Boy whimpered and squirmed more vigourously while his friend continued to stare. Raven found herself leaning away from the display.
"Dude!" Beast Boy whined. "Put me down! You're being soooo weeiird!" Cyborg shook himself a little and with a disturbingly paternal smile, plopped Beast Boy back down in his chair, then backing away toward the door.
"Don't mind me, you two. I'll give you some... privacy!" As he spoke the last word, Cyborg's eyebrows waggled up and down. He disappeared into the corridor, though thy could both see him peering in around the door frame. Beast Boy stared at Raven with pleading eyes. She nodded at him, still wide eyed and summoned her power, transporting them instantly to the roof. After they arrived, Beast Boy sat down with his head in his hands.
"Oh, dude. that was so weird. I'm sorry, Rae I hope you... weren't... freaked?" Beast Boy had turned mid-sentence to Raven, his apology turning to a question as he saw her shaking, one hand on her stomach and the other over her mouth. She quickly gave up the fight and started laughing. Loudly. She had said she'd keep an open mind and apparently, this left her emotions more easily accessible. In this case, Happy had been whispering into Raven's subconscious, finding the humour in Cyborg's unhealthy obsession.
"He's- he's so weird!" Raven exclaimed between giggles. Beast Boy finally found his smile again.
"Yeah... yeah, he is," he responded, wondering at her laughter. Just one more thing about her that he found very... intriguing. Shortly, Raven noticed Beast Boy's silence and found him staring at her, a dreamy smile on his face. His previous outburst echoed in her mind and she tamed her laughter, blushing at his scrutiny. Happy and Lust celebrated loudly at his attention. She cleared her throat.
"Ahem. So... what now?" she asked. That snapped Beast Boy out of his trance and he pondered while tapping his chin.
"Hmmm. I dunno. What do you usually do this time of the morning?" he responded. Raven bit back her retort that he would know if he ever woke up in the mornings.
"I usually read... but I don't think I want to go back in there just yet," she admitted. Beast Boy nodded.
"Yeah, me neither. Tell you what: why don't we both pick a place and we'll go to both. Spend time in each others' comfort zone or something," Beast Boy suggested. Raven nodded with a look of surprised approval: that actually sounded like a good idea. Until she reminded herself his comfort zone likely involved video games or some other equally noisy and pointless activity. Deciding she would rather get it over with, she indicated he should go first, he thought again, smiled and took to the air as an eagle. Raven followed, dreading their destination. To Raven's immense surprise (and relief) they landed not at an arcade but in front of the Jump City Museum.
"This is unexpected," she said.
"They're showing a collection of classic sci-fi movie memorabilia." Raven's heart sank. Of course they were. Beast Boy continued: "But I thought we could check out a few other exhibits while we were here. They've got a section for mystic artifacts, though they're mostly replicas. I think they might actually have a couple of genuine items on loan from Doctor Fate at the moment, though." Raven was surprised again. And a little suspicious.
"You seem to know a lot about it," she said. Beast Boy had the decency to look sheepish and admit he was caught.
"I might have checked around for, y'know... suitable date ideas and stuff." Raven kept her cool gaze on him for a few moments more, then smirked and walked to the entrance. They did indeed visit the movie exhibit first and Raven wasn't completely bored by it. The props were all from older, black and white movies and she could feel Beast Boy's excitement as he explained each item's significance. His passion was refreshing and she felt her emotions luxuriating in it. Not long after, they entered the mystic artifacts section. Beast Boy had been right, almost everything on display was a mundane replica, though Raven could feel the tug of genuine magic. Following it, there was a display of one of Doctor Fate's temporary donations. Several groups of people were in the room to observe as the attendant addressed them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, here we have the Orb of Connection. At least, that's what we call it as Doctor Fate wouldn't tell us its true name. Anyway, it's fairly harmless: it shows us the connections we have to others. Like so..." The nameless attendant approached the Orb and her fingers gently rotated a discreet control. The lights were dimmed and several people exclaimed as wispy ribbons of blue light connected them together. Beast Boy noted that he and Raven were free of the ribbons.
"I wonder what the blue light means," Beast Boy muttered. Before Raven could answer, the attendant spoke again.
"The blue light means family: blood relations in this case," she said, eliciting some 'ooh's and 'aah's from the crowd. She adjusted the control again and the blue ribbons vanished, replaced by a different pattern of white lights. "The white lights signify friendship," the attendant said. Beast Boy grinned. Across the short distance between him and Raven, there was a solid white ribbon, easily the brightest in the room. Raven smiled gently at it... and at Beast Boy.
"Awww, Raven: you do care!" Beast Boy laughed. Raven shook her head.
"My secret is exposed. Don't tell too many people, I have a reputation to consider," she replied. Before Beast Boy could respond, the attendant adjusted the mystical contraption again. The white light vanished to be replaced by yet another pattern of red.
"The red light denotes attraction, lust or even love. Going both ways, of course: we wouldn't want to embarrass anyone!" she said, humour in her voice. A scream was heard on the far side of the room. Raven and Beast Boy ran to the sound only to find a man being slapped and berated by someone they assumed was his girlfriend, given the strong red ribbon between them. The reason was obvious: a second ribbon extended between him and another girl who, judging by their similar looks, was the girlfriend's sister. Beast Boy chuckled a little to relieve his battle-ready state and turned to face Raven. She, however, did not look back but instead stared at the space between them. There, faint and gossamer-thin, was a red connection between Beast Boy and herself. They both stared now, slack-jawed and incredulous. There it was. There was something between them. Their gazes found each other, still amazed. The attendant was speaking again, the red light vanishing again. They didn't notice. Finally, Beast Boy's mouth curved into a smile, slowly reciprocated by Raven.
"Hey," he said, softly.
"Hey, yourself," she replied. Stiffly, she raised her hand and held it out to him. Nervously, Beast Boy reached out and took it. Marvelling at the warmth, Raven began to walk to the museum exit and Beast Boy walked with her, never taking his eyes from her. Raven kept walking after they had left, glancing at their joined hands. Her heart raced and her face felt hot, her emotions were noisy in her head but she ignored it all and just kept walking.
She had no idea where they were going... but she found herself anxious to find out.
And there you have it! Not sure about the end of this chapter, might have to mess with it but it gets the point across and I've made people wait long enough. Enjoy!
-Jack