MC: Hey, Mastercoop here, with Chapta' Numba' Two. Hope you find it to your liking.
Raven's eyes shot open, staring at Beast Boy in surprise, so taken aback by his unexpected question that her levitation faltered slightly, causing her to dip towards the ground. She quickly regained her composure, however, leveling out about a foot off the ground, masking her surprise quickly by forcing a questioning look of skepticism.
"Why would you want to meditate?" she asked, shock making her voice harsher than she had intended.
The unpleasantness of her response startled Beast Boy, whose face fell rapidly and who stood silently for moment before turning to walk away. "I shoulda know it was a stupid question..." he muttered.
"Wait. Stop!" said Raven, raising her voice and standing up. She reached over and grabbed his shoulder, her voice turning gentler, "I didn't mean it like that." He turned around to face the dark girl, staring into her eyes. "It's just that you've... I mean, you've never really taken an interest in meditation before now."
"There's a first time for everything," he replied, regaining a small, hopeful smile. "So, will you show me how?"
She looked at him for a moment, thinking. Then she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "This had better not be some kind of stupid joke."
Beast Boy held up his hands in front of him, laughing slightly. "I'm being totally serious, honest."
She stared at him for a second or two, then turned back to face the bay. "Alright," she said, sitting down by the edge of the tower once more.
"Sweet!" said Beast Boy excitedly, pumping his fist and causing Raven to roll her eyes. He turned to face the bay as well, sitting down cross-legged and looking sideways at her.
"Now, just find your center, and-" but her instruction was cut off by Beast Boy's voice.
"How do I find my center?" he asked curiously.
"Um... Ok, picture yourself," she said, thinking back to when she had first learned to meditate. "Think of your true self, the one part of yourself from which all other parts stem. Think of how that part steadies and anchors you, keeping you true to yourself."
'Azar,' thought Raven, 'I'm starting to sound just those old monks.' An image of several balding old men in robes appeared in her mind's eye, but she pushed the thought aside.
"OK," said Beast Boy tentatively. "I think I got it."
"Good, now all you need to do is focus your energy," continued Raven. She sensed more confusion from Beast Boy, so she elaborated. "Once you find your center, focus on it."
"Got it," said Beast Boy, sounding eager.
"Alright then, you know what need to do..." her voice faded away, and a moment later, eyes closed, both Titans repeated in unison, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."
Despite following her own instructions to the letter, Raven found she had an extraordinary difficult time meditating with Beast Boy. Her thoughts keep drifting away from her center and focusing instead on the green changeling beside her. She never would have expected him to want to meditate with her. When he had approached with a question, she had expected something along the lines of 'Wanna come watch me eat tofu?' or 'Why did the chicken cross the road?' She had been sure his question would be something silly, for sure, and definitely not anything serious. It just wasn't his usual behavior.
Even stranger was the fact that he wanted to meditate with her. He had often complained that Raven was boring because she meditated all the time. Whenever she used meditation as an excuse to avoid doing things with him and the other Titans, he'd complain about how boring her meditation was. She wondered what had caused him to change his mind. She had to admit, he seemed committed; fifteen minutes had passed and he had remained sitting beside her, silent except for the magic words. She was surprised he could stay still so long without talking or making a joke.
She tried again to push the thoughts of Beast Boy out of her mind, but she couldn't seem to get him out of her head. He had seemed different lately; just this morning he had courteously offered to let her use the bathroom before him when they had both needed to get ready. He was more protective of everyone in battle too, but especially of her. He had also taken to sitting next to her during meal times, and bugging her even more than usual. He had even turned down his video games once when she had said they were distracting her from her reading.
Maybe he had finally decided to act more mature. Or maybe it was something... else. She could never tell with Beast Boy. He hid most of his true feelings behind his humor, and while she didn't think he was hiding anything serious, she did have difficultly reading his true emotions most of the time.
She thought back to when he had asked her to meditate. He had looked so dejected when she had nearly rejected his idea earlier, and she began mentally kicking herself for her stupidity. 'He just wanted to meditate with you and you pushed him away,' she thought bitterly. 'He wants to be your friend, but every step of the way you stop him. Why?" She couldn't explain it. 'He's just so... annoying and... immature." But she could tell those excuses weren't really the truth.
Deep down she knew the truth, which was that she was afraid of Beast Boy. The Titan's were her best friends, her family. She loved them, and they loved her. But none of them had ever tried to get close to her. Raven had girl talks with Starfire, sparred with Robin, and worked on the T-car with Cyborg, but all of them gave her space. All of them knew their limits, and stayed within them. All of them... except Beast Boy. He pushed every limit, nagging and bothering her, constantly talking and joking with her. He always seemed to get closer than any of the others. And that closeness... it scared the hell out of her.
She had no experience with closeness, not even with her mother back on Azarath. Because of the prophecy, she had never seen the point of being close to anyone. The more you grew attached to something, the more it hurt when it was yanked away, so she had tried to stay away from everyone. Even so, despite her "better" judgment, she had made friends with the other Titans. But she had always stopped short of truly sharing herself with the rest of the team. In their girl talks, it was always Starfire who talked about her home world and her life before the Titans. When she had finished sparring with Robin late at night, it was always he who told stories of where he had learned to fight, and why he was a crime fighter. When she worked with Cyborg, she always helped him with his problems, rather than the other way around. She would spend time with her friends, but she always had her distance, some space that separated her emotionally from the rest of the Titans. But it had been Beast Boy who had comforted her the only time she had really needed it. When she had been betrayed, it had been him who had been there to tell her that she wasn't alone.
He tried to be closer to her then than anyone else, but she had no idea how to be close to anyone, or even if she could be. But Beast Boy, it seemed, was always getting closer.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," said the pair before opening their eyes in unison. Some time had passed since they had begun their meditation together, and sun was just beginning to set across the ocean. They both sat in silence for a while, simply taking in the view. The fading rays reflected off the dark blue waves, making the water seem to sparkle. The sky had cleared, and the dark of the approaching night sky seemed to be slowly enveloping the pair as the sat on the rooftop together in the failing sunlight.
"It's really beautiful," said Beast Boy happily.
"Yeah" said Raven as they stood up. "Listen, Beast Boy, about earlier, I wanted to-" but her words were interrupted by Beast Boy as he grabbed her up in a big hug.
"Thanks," he said, smiling and looking deep into her eyes. After a second, they separated, and a moment later he was off, hurrying towards the stairs, mumbling something about waffles.
She watched him go, one eyebrow raised. After a few seconds, she turned back to face the setting sun. She stood on the roof for a long time, staying well after the last rays of sunlight had fallen below the horizon. The dark of the night surrounded her, and suddenly, she was gone, off to her room to continue meditating. She had a lot to think about.
MC: WOW, we get a lot of Raven's thoughts in this chapter. Like, several diary entries worth of them. I never expected that to happen, but when I was writing, all of a sudden, her thoughts just seemed to come to me. I hope you liked it, and don't worry, we'll get some Beast Boy introspection real soon.