Chapter fifteen: Presents.
Beast Boy had never felt more out of place in his whole life, and he was green. He stood, shaking with nerves and overwhelmed by his surroundings. Out of all of the Titans and honorary Titans who had taken part in the annual secret Santa, he'd just had to pull Raven's name out of the hat. And the trouble was, he really wanted to get her something she'd like, because he really liked her.
It was because of this that he found himself trembling with uncertainty in the centre of a quaint little tea shop, it was tucked away in a far hidden corner of the market, so small was it that it was more of a dead-ended corridor than a shop. From the entrance to the back wall, from floor to ceiling were shelves and shelves of teas, different flavours and infusions. They were organised alright, if you knew what you were looking for, and Beast Boy didn't. Did he want leaves or bags? Floral, herbal of fruity? He'd known this was a bad idea.
Each little shelf was labelled with the teas name, and the name was scrawled onto a picture, a different picture for each tea. These images were not of the herbs or fruits used within the teas though, they were landscapes, or seascapes in different colour schemes, and they were supposedly inspired by the teas in question. He had to go through the collection and think 'If Raven drinks this, she'll see this'.
The combined scent of so many potent aromas in such an enclosed space was making Beast Boy feel rather nauseous. As he walked further still in the tea cave he found a collection of hand carved, miniature chests, with beautifully handcrafted floral depictions etched upon the hard wood. Each one had a tag fastened to the latch, the tags showing the images he'd seen on previous shelves, the landscapes and names of tea. The chests reminded him of Raven, and he thought that was a step in the right direction. The chests were miniscule, easily balanceable on two flat palms, but they were quaint and had an almost antique appearance.
As he looked through the tags, trying to determine if any of these images reminded him of Raven, he came across a picture of moonlight upon a lake, in varying shades of purple. Without thought he turned to the person nearest to him, an elderly woman.
"What can you tell me about 'Earl Grey'?" he asked her shyly, embarrassed by his lack of knowledge, reading the name quickly from the label.
"It's a delightful blend, easy drinking. It's calming, not at all overpowering. It's almost like an elegant version of standard 'English Breakfast'." She smiled at him, obviously happy to help.
Beast Boy gave her a grateful smile; appreciative of her attempt at assistance despite the fact what she'd said hadn't really registered with him. He was far too humiliated to ask someone else for aid, in case they told him nothing different. So he picked up the beautiful chest, containing 100 bags of Earl Grey, and approached the counter.
On his way back through the market, heading towards the tower, he picked up a length of violet ribbon, that he intended to fasten in a bow around what he believed was an adequate present. With a great sigh of both relief and apprehension, he decided he was opting out of next year's secret Santa.