A.N. Greetings, my friends! Yes, it is finally summer break and I am immensely enjoying the gigantic increase of free time. I look forward to supplying more frequent updates over these next few months.
Chapter four of "Like It Or Not," entitled "Breaking the News"
It was after noon before either Raven or Beast Boy emerged from their respective bedrooms the next morning.
Beast Boy was quite a wreck, his hair mussed and his clothing wrinkled. He hadn't slept at all, but honestly, who could blame him? His mind was too cluttered to rest, and he had spent the majority of the early morning hours pacing around his room like some sort of caged animal.
It was obvious to him that Raven was attempting not to turn this marriage issue into a big deal, but that was something he simply did not think was possible. Early on, Beast Boy's parents and mentors had instilled in him the idea that commitment was not to be treated lightly. He had changed so much since he was a kid, but that was one lesson he would never let go.
Perhaps he would have been able to warm up to the issue if he hadn't been caught completely off guard by Raven's proposal. Beast Boy had never really taken the time to consider such things. After all, he was barely seventeen, an age where relationships with the opposite sex don't usually progress past dating. The truth of the matter was that Beast Boy still thought of himself as a kid, even if he was beginning to near the end of his teenage years, and marriage was supposed to be for adults.
A little after noon, Beast Boy had given up on getting any rest and decided that he was wasting his time mulling over the same answerless questions. He showered, dressed quickly, and then took a minute to fix his thick green hair to his satisfaction. Once he completed this, he sighed and stopped to luxuriously stretch his sore, tired body. He really wasn't in a rush to meet his friends, for obvious reasons. He could almost see their shocked expressions already. Grimacing to himself, Beast Boy headed for the kitchen to fix himself some lunch. He wasn't exactly hungry, but he couldn't think of anything better to do.
Beast Boy sauntered through the vacant halls, humming a tune to himself as he walked. He arrived at the Tower's kitchen and the door slid open in front of him. The changeling casually stepped inside. Raven was sitting alone at the kitchen table, half of an apple lying on a napkin beside her. She had her nose buried in a book, but she glanced up to see him walk in.
"Hey," he said amiably.
"Hello," Raven replied wearily. She frowned slightly to herself, mildly annoyed to have her solitude interrupted.
She had spent the morning meditating, after parting from Beast Boy earlier that same day. Once her initial happiness from his agreement to marry her (which of course stemmed only from the relief that she would not die within the week) had worn off, Raven felt her attitude reverting to its characteristic melancholy. His acceptance of her plea for help had only been the very beginning. They now had so much more to deal with, so much that Raven did not feel like facing.
One of the only things that presently made Raven glad was her realization that she had not had another attack since she proposed to Beast Boy. She could only hope that because she was complying with the law, she would not experience any more of the painful punishment from the curse. Even this, however, was not enough to keep her spirits up.
Raven had not left her room much earlier than Beast Boy. While taking a walk through the giant Tower, she had found Cyborg working in the garage and he had told her that Robin and Starfire were out somewhere in the city. She wasn't surprised. The two had been spending a large amount of their time together lately.
Raven exhaled loudly. She had hoped for a quiet afternoon. She needed more time to think and be alone, but knew that she couldn't now simply get up and leave. She didn't have the heart to snub Beast Boy right then. He was sacrificing so much for her that she couldn't bring herself to treat him unkindly. The least she could do was be supportive.
She watched him turn and walk to the refrigerator, pulling out a carton of soymilk before taking a box of cereal from a cupboard. She continued to watch him as he poured himself a bowlful of the sugary cereal and then proceeded to drown his meal in soymilk before replacing the carton in the fridge. Bringing herself from her sleep-deprived gazing, Raven turned her eyes back to the book in her hands so that Beast Boy wouldn't catch her looking at him.
Beast Boy soon sat down at the table, immediately digging into his meal. He glanced up at Raven for a moment. "Where's everyone else?" he inquired, mouth still partially full of wet cereal.
"Cyborg is in the garage, and who knows where the other two are," she replied.
"We've gotta tell 'em today, don't we?" he asked unhappily.
She nodded, and the two sat in silence for a while longer. Raven made an effort to continue reading her book, but couldn't concentrate to save her life. Sighing to herself, she quickly finished her apple and threw out the core, returning to the table and crossing her arms over her closed book.
"Are your powers working yet?" Beast Boy wondered, already downing the last spoonfuls of his cereal.
"They still aren't," Raven replied. "I don't expect them to return until after we marry." Her eyebrows knit together. It felt incredibly strange to say that word, especially to Beast Boy. She supposed it would get easier with time, but so far, it was still pretty weird.
Beast Boy nodded slowly, his expression somewhat thoughtful. "So that means the… wedding should be soon."
"That would make sense. I'm practically useless to the team without my powers," Raven responded sadly.
"So what kind of wedding is this gunna be?" Beast Boy asked. "I mean, are we inviting people?"
Raven shook her head. "This situation can't get leaked to the press. They'd have a field day."
Beast Boy grinned. "Totally," he agreed. "And I don't think this is a particularly role model-y thing to do."
"Right. We should keep the wedding simple, just a private service and the exchanging of vows."
"Who's going to marry us?" Beast Boy asked.
"Robin," Raven replied, her voice calm.
Beast Boy grimaced slightly. "I hope he agrees," he said uncertainly.
"He has to," Raven said resolutely.
The room was quiet as Beast Boy finished drinking the soymilk at the bottom of his cereal bowl. Realizing that she was doing nothing than stare at Beast Boy as he drank, Raven blushed lightly and wordlessly stood to leave.
As she walked to the door, book in hand, Beast Boy called to her.
"Hey Rae?" he said quietly. Raven turned around to face him. "We'll get through this," he assured the girl, offering her a smile.
Raven nodded in return and left the room. She rarely knew where he got his wacky ideas.
TT
It was mid-afternoon when Robin and Starfire returned to the Tower, grinning and talking to each other, blissfully oblivious of the rest of the world. Beast Boy and Raven were waiting for the two of them in the common room, as they had grown bored of pretending not to be completely anxious about telling the rest of the team and opted to wait apprehensively together.
Robin and Starfire finally realized the presence of their teammates when Beast Boy cleared his throat loudly.
Robin's eyes snapped up from Starfire's, and his grin faded from his face as his gaze flitted between Raven and Beast Boy. Raven sat on the common room couch and Beast Boy was leaning against the back of it, not a yard away from the sorceress.
"Do you two realize that you're standing in the same room and you're not fighting?" Robin inquired, almost completely serious.
Raven rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, we all can act civilly when the time calls for it."
"News to me," Robin said with a shrug, preparing to exit the common room.
Beast Boy shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He glanced at Raven and swallowed. "Uh, Rob? Raven and I kinda wanted to talk with you."
"Actually, we wish to address the whole team," Raven corrected him.
Robin blinked. "Alright," he slowly consented. "Right now?"
"The sooner the better," Beast Boy answered quickly.
"Is something wrong, friends?" Starfire asked with concern.
"Beast Boy and I will explain everything to the team when we're all together," Raven tiredly replied.
Robin shrugged. "I guess I'll go get Cy," he stated, leaving the room unhurriedly with Starfire still by his side.
TT
Unsurprisingly, it took quite a while for the whole team to congregate. For some reason, the Titans could assemble in the blink of an eye when the Tower alarm went off, but when the Titans were off-duty, casual meetings were all but impossible to pull off. A full hour later, all five of the Teen Titans had finally gathered in the Tower's common room. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg were seated near the center of the semi-circular couch, while Raven and Beast Boy sat on either extreme of it.
"So," Robin said, calling the informal meeting into session, "I believe Raven and Beast Boy have something to tell us."
The team's attention was focused on Raven as she cleared her throat and briefly closed her eyes, willing up every ounce of courage she possessed before she spoke. "I'm sure all of you have noticed that my powers have not been working well lately," she said nervously. "I recently found out the cause of that problem."
Raven took a second to glance up at Beast Boy. He was sitting with an anxious expression on his face, fidgeting his hands subconsciously in his lap while his eyes remained glued to the floor.
She turned her attention back to her other three teammates, who were waiting for her to continue. "When children are born on Azarath," Raven began again, "They have a unique sort of spell, well, curse placed upon them."
"It is malevolent, then?" Robin attempted to clarify, his arms crossed casually across his chest as he leaned back against the couch. Apparently he was still stuck in leader mode.
"Potentially," Raven admitted vaguely. Raven cleared her throat quietly again, forcing down her nerves. "This curse requires each child to comply with a certain Azarathian law, with the penalty of a rather unpleasant death if one chooses to disobey."
"Are you going to die, friend Raven?" Starfire asked, eyes wide in horror.
"No, I am not," Raven said confidently, meeting her alien friend's gaze. "Because Beast Boy has agreed to… help me."
"So, what's the curse?" Cyborg asked slowly.
"The curse was put in place to ensure the healthy growth of the Azarathian population. It requires every teenager on Azarath to marry before their seventeenth birthday, and if the person does not comply, he or she will slowly die." Raven spoke rapidly, and when she had finished, all she could do was stare pensively as her three friends processed the overload of new information.
"You're… getting married?" Robin asked in shock.
"I must before my seventeenth birthday," Raven replied.
"Your seventeenth birthday is coming up really soon," Cyborg stated, wide eyed.
"It's in a week," Raven said.
"You said before that you're not going to die because Beast Boy agreed to help you," Robin recalled quickly. "You're marrying Beast Boy!" he yelled, the realization of this shooting through him like a bolt of lightening. He sat up quickly, immediately understanding her past unease of divulging her quandary to him.
All at once, four pairs of eyes turned to Beast Boy, who until this point had been doing his best to sink into the couch. At the sudden turn of attention, Beast Boy blushed furiously as he avoided the eyes of his friends.
"Um, yeah," he admitted. "I just found out this morning."
Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg continued to stare, still utterly speechless, between their two friends.
"You're getting married," Robin said again at last, as if hoping that the re-vocalization of this previously established fact would help him comprehend it.
"This is… astonishing news," Starfire agreed hesitantly.
"The grass stain and Raven," Cyborg said quietly, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Yes," Raven said in mild exasperation. "Beast Boy and I are getting married within the week," she repeated. "However," she added, "Although marriage is a very significant event on Earth, this particular marriage does not need to be anything more than a simple exchanging of vows. Nothing major has to change, and the marriage can be terminated in two years."
"That's when a marriage on Azarath is first eligible for official ending," Beast Boy added miserably.
"You say that nothing has to change," Robin said, still dazed, "Do you actually think that this won't effect the team?"
"I remain optimistic," Raven replied carefully.
"On my planet, marriage is a beautiful and holy thing," Starfire said quietly. "On Tamaran we do not speak of the betrothal process quite so flippantly."
"Star's right. Any way you slice it, getting married is a big deal," Cyborg agreed.
"That's what I told her," Beast Boy added.
Raven shot the changeling an irritated look, realizing that she had just been put alone on the defensive. "The team can't afford to make my marriage to Beast Boy a big issue," she reasoned.
"Please, friends," Starfire spoke up, "This news has come as quite a shock, but should we not be happy that our friends are to wed?"
"But they don't want to," Robin answered for the two teens in question.
"It is the only way," Raven agreed.
"So why didn't we find out about this situation sooner?" Robin asked, still visibly vexed.
"I have been experiencing difficulties with my powers for weeks," Raven admitted, "But I kept putting off looking for answers. I didn't want to entertain the thought that my condition was anything serious. I figured that the problem would go away on its own, but it continued to get worse and I finally went to Nevermore yesterday."
"That is, you went into your mind and learned that you must marry our friend Beast Boy?" Starfire wondered.
Raven nodded, doubtful that the alien quite grasped the odd concept.
"I don't understand," Robin said. "If you were not aware of this marriage curse, how come the information about it was in your mind?"
"I was aware that the curse existed, but I did not think that it had been put upon me at birth because my destiny was to die before I was of marrying age," Raven clarified. "And I only needed to visit Nevermore to learn about the situation because I possess an emotion, whom Cyborg and Beast Boy have briefly met on a past occasion, known as Knowledge. Knowledge is the personification of my intelligence, as she recalls all I have ever read or studied. You could say that she serves as my own library in Nevermore, retaining all of the information I have been exposed to. On Azarath, although I was young, I spent quite a bit of time studying under the leadership of the priests and priestesses, and the law was a large part of my curriculum. Because so much time has passed since I studied the laws of Azarath, I needed to meditate and visit Knowledge to recover the information that remained hidden in my mind."
"How can you be positive that there isn't another way around this?" Cyborg asked.
"Azarathian law is known for being essentially airtight. Any and all loopholes were intentionally added to protect special cases, such as myself. There are no errors," Raven explained.
"That's why she's marrying me. There's a loophole that says because there aren't any seventeen year old guys left on Azarath, Raven could marry someone from Earth because she's half human," Beast Boy added.
"But why Beast Boy?" Robin inquired.
"The law stipulates that I must have known the person for at least three years prior to the wedding, and the boy must have turned seventeen before I do." Raven answered.
"Then why not Cyborg or myself?" Robin asked.
"Beast Boy was chosen for me, and it is not my place to question why," Raven replied firmly.
"Then we may rest assured that this marriage will be a success, for it has been ordained by the supreme beings of Raven's home planet!" Starfire exclaimed joyfully.
"It is apparently what the priests thought was best," Raven agreed skeptically.
"Glorious!" Starfire responded. "Then friends Beast Boy and Raven will take the sacred oaths of marriage, and soon there will be little half-Beast Boy, half-Raven bumgorfs with whom to share our happy home!"
"I'm pretty sure that would be one of the major changes Raven already pointed out doesn't need to be made," Robin replied while Raven and Beast Boy fought futilely not to blush.
"Then what is the purpose of their marriage?" Starfire asked naïvely.
"To bear children would be the primary purpose in any normal Azarathian marriage," Raven reluctantly agreed. "But that will not be happening in this situation," she said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Let's get that in writing," Robin muttered under his breath.
"So," Cyborg began enthusiastically, only too happy to get away from the awkward subject, "Who on Earth is gunna officiate a wedding between two teenagers?"
"Robin's got to," Beast Boy replied, "Since he's the leader of this team."
The four members of Robin's team turned to look at him simultaneously. He raised an eyebrow, which lifted a corner of his mask. "I've got to?" he said dubiously, restating Beast Boy's frank comment.
"You're the only person here who can," Beast Boy offered.
"And if I refuse?" Robin inquired.
"Then Beast Boy and I will have to get creative," Raven threatened.
"I'm sure we could find somewhere else to tie the knot," Beast Boy added with mock-innocence. "Las Vegas, anyone?"
"We're just trying to keep this from the press, Robin," Raven assured him kindly, "But if you'd rather have two members of your team go gallivanting across the country to get married and have that show up in the news…"
"They've got ya there," Cyborg declared, shaking his head.
"Not helping, Cy," Robin said, obviously perturbed.
"I understand that you don't want to do this, Robin," Raven assured him. "But if I am not married before my birthday, I will die. Beast Boy and I must go through with this wedding, and as our leader you have the responsibility to marry us."
The team silently watched Robin as he thought through the situation, mask narrowed. At last, he sighed tiredly and threw up his hands.
"Alright. Fine. If it's the only way, I'll marry you two," Robin surrendered, the full reality of the situation still not having fully sunk in. In fact, he still wasn't entirely sure that this wasn't some sort of bizarre nightmare.
"Oh, this is wonderful news!" Starfire exclaimed. "And when will the marriage occur?"
"Six days would be the absolute longest we can wait," Raven replied. "However, I do not think I will regain my powers until I have submitted to the curse and been wed."
"The sooner the better, then," Beast Boy said.
Cyborg and Robin turned to look at the changeling oddly.
"For the team, obviously," Beast Boy hurriedly added.
"The Titans can get by with Raven out of commission for a while," Robin stated. "I'm tempted to delay the wedding as much as possible. We all need time to process this."
"Yes, it is a good plan to wait, for the wedding celebration preparations will take quite a while to complete," Starfire said.
"Actually, Beast Boy and I already decided that the wedding will be low key," Raven declared.
"I do not understand this phrase, 'low key,'" Starfire admitted, her expression slightly clouded.
"It just means that they don't want it to be a big deal," Cyborg explained. "You know, no reception or decorations or--"
"No!" Starfire exclaimed, and her sudden outburst caught everyone off guard, causing her teammates to flinch. "No," she said again, her voice more under control but still quite emphatic. "We cannot allow two of our own teammates to join in holy matrimony without properly celebrating the joyous occasion!"
"Starfire, it isn't an occasion that needs to be celebrated," Raven attempted to reason with the adamant alien.
"Nonsense," Starfire insisted. "This wedding will be glorious, for even if friends Beast Boy and Raven are not glad to be uniting, their marriage day must be a treasured memory."
"Remember that we don't want the media to catch wind of this marriage, Star," Robin cut in.
Starfire appeared thoughtful for a moment. "Can we not even invite our good friends the Titans East to take part in the festivities?"
"I don't think that letting anyone outside the Tower know about the wedding would be smart for now," Robin said. "The other Titans will figure it out soon enough, or we can let them know once the wedding is out of the way."
"Then the celebration will be quite small," Starfire observed somewhat sadly.
"There doesn't need to be a celebration at all, Starfire," Raven insisted strongly.
"No, you are wrong, friend Raven," Starfire said firmly, matching the half-demon's steely gaze, "I will not allow this marriage to pass without proper recognition and festivity."
"Don't forget that we still have our jobs to do," Robin stated. "And our roles as Titans cannot be compromised for the sake of… party planning." He finished the last two words like they left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
"My friends," Starfire said kindly, "Do not worry. I will gladly take upon myself the role as the planner of this occasion."
"I'm not sure if that's such a great idea," Raven said uneasily.
"Friend Raven, as the bride, you must aid me in the preparations!" the jubilant alien insisted. "The issue has been settled," Starfire announced before her friends could get a word in edgewise.
"Works for me," Cyborg shrugged.
"Then what day is the wedding going to be?" Beast Boy asked.
Robin frowned. "Six days from now. That's this coming Saturday," he decided. "I could reschedule an extra training session and combat practice earlier in the week to clear up that day, but we will remain on call incase the city is attacked."
The team nodded their agreement.
Raven sighed. She was quite relieved that the issue of her marriage had been accepted relatively well. It appeared that the wedding would not be treated as trivially as she had hoped, but that seemed to be completely out of her hands. The situation still seemed so surreal. It was difficult to fathom that this was actually happening, that she would actually be marrying Beast Boy in less than a week.
The Titans broke apart their unofficial meeting a few minutes later, the team members going their separate ways.
Cyborg went back in the direction of the garage on habit, since he was still too stunned at what had happened to decide where else to walk. He had a seriously bad feeling about this whole deal. Seriously, BB, the kid who still pouted when he lost at video games was marrying Raven, the always serious, brooding demoness. His little girl. Could it possibly get any weirder? He thought not.
Starfire hurried away from the common room, eager to begin her planning for what would surely be the most glorious, five attendee wedding to ever occur. There was so much to do in only a matter of six days. She could hardly wait to begin! She would first need to talk with Raven, in order to better understand exactly how a traditional Earth wedding differed from a Tamaranean wedding. Friends Cyborg and Robin had been hesitant to accept the news of the betrothal of Beast Boy and Raven, but everyone would soon realize the great joy of this occasion. It was her duty as a friend to make sure of that.
Still feeling shocked, Robin left immediately to go beat the stuffing out of a punching bag in the training room. He was completely blown away at how much the Titans would be affected based on this one event. He never saw it coming, and could only hope that the wedding would not radically hurt his team. He had a seriously bad feeling that this would not end well. Beast Boy and Raven were far too young, and it would be nearly impossible to keep this quiet forever. What would happen when other people found out, when the media or other Titans or Batman figured out that was going on? He took the Titans' responsibility as role models very seriously, and this marriage could compromise the respect the world had for his team.
Beast Boy was glad that the Titans' meeting had gone as well as it did. He certainly had not expected the marriage to be accepted so relatively painlessly, and Starfire even seemed to be pretty excited. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, as long as the whole team was behind Raven and himself. Besides, if they all went about this maturely, what's the worst that could happen? Well, he really didn't want that to be answered. He was still worried to death and somehow sensed that this wouldn't be as simple as it seemed. Could a marriage really be as meaningless as a few spoken words if the bride and groom wanted it to be? Beast Boy doubted it, and little did he know how horribly right he was.
--
And there you have it. Everything is starting to heat up. I know I'm excited.
If you enjoyed the chapter, please let me know in a review. I welcome any questions, comments, or criticism that you may have.
Thank you for reading, and have a terrific day.
