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. . .

The Talk

. . .

A shadow fell across the title page of the twenty-sixth chapter of Raven's book. "The Final Hour, huh? Sounds pretty climactic. I hate to interrupt you here, but do you have a second?"

Raven put her hand across the inner seam so that the gentle breeze from the AC duct she was sitting directly beneath wouldn't blow the pages askew as she appraised Cyborg. He was leaning over the back of the couch with an eager sort of grin that made her sure she did not want any part of whatever conversation he had in mind. "This is the penultimate chapter of the book, Cyborg. Can it wait?"

Cyborg scratched his cheek on the metal sideㅡa subconscious tick she wasn't even sure he was aware of. It must have lingered from the days when he still had skin there. "Well, see, the thing is that I've been waiting for three days already. There's been a lot going on, and every time you're alone you're always reading that dang book. You've been reading for four straight hours today alone and I've been really patient but I gotta get this off my chest."

Toward the end, his tone shifted from light to almost serious, and Raven looked him over again, trying to discern what he was on about. After a moment of deliberation she closed her book. It was probably best to get it over with now.

"Great!" He vaulted over the couch, landing heavily next to her, bouncing her a full foot into the air. She glared at him, ruffled beyond belief, but he didn't even seem to notice. "Listen, I gotta tell ya, I think you and B are great together."

Raven pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "Is that what this is about? Please, can't we just pretend that nothing has changed?" Ever since Beast Boy had let slip that they'd been sort of seeing each other, the tower had been an absolute nightmare to live in. Today's reading session was the first moment of peace she'd had to herself since then, and she'd really, really needed it. "You've already had your fun at my expense."

Cyborg chuckled somewhat sheepishly, inching away from the dark cloud that was slowly enveloping Raven's body and the surrounding couch cushions. "Yeah, I know, I know, I'm sorry. It was just so unexpected! Look, I got it out of my system, okay? I'm not here to make fun of you. That's not what this is about."

Raven surveyed him through her hand with what she hoped was a Very Threatening Look. "So what is it about, then?"

The Look did not make him back down. If anything, he seemed to fortify himself before responding, leaning forward to match her stare for stare. "I don't know if you guys are serious or just messing around," (he held his hand up here to stay Raven's brewing response as she bristled) "but that's your business. I won't ask. But I am gonna give you this one warning, Raven."

"I don't want or need advice on the matter," Raven interrupted.

She appreciated the whole 'big brother' thing Cyborg liked to do for her, she really did, but when it came to this subject she wasn't sure she needed to hear his advice. She didn't want whatever warm, brotherly, overprotective lecture he was about to give about boysㅡor even worse, about Beast Boy specifically. Whatever warning he was about to give, she was convinced she already knew what it was. Be careful with men, she could hear plainly in his voice. They're dangerous.

Be careful with Beast Boy. He's dangerous.

She wasn't sure she could take it if that's really what Cyborg so desperately wanted to tell her.

But Cyborg shook his head, his mouth pressing into a grim line. "It's not advice, Raven. It's a warning. I love you. You know that. But I love Beast Boy too. That kid is… he's my brother, Raven. If you hurt him..." His face softened for a second, and he stifled a laugh. "This is coming out like a threat. I'm not trying to threaten you. But if you hurt him, Raven, I swear to god…"

"Woah, ease up." Raven blinked in surprise, completely taken aback by the severity of his demeanor. "I'm not going to hurt him, Cyborg." Baffled, she waited for him to lean away, feeling oddly guilty. Guilty that she'd given him cause to even bring this up. And she had a little bit of whiplash from the u-turn the conversation had taken, if she was being honest.

Satisfied, Cyborg relaxed onto the couch, throwing his arms up on the back cushions, beaming at her like he'd known what her answer would be all along.

Still feeling guilty, and annoyed at that fact, Raven asked with a fair bit of sarcasm, "Am I to assume you gave Beast Boy this talk too?"

That threw Cyborg for a loop. He raised his eyebrow at her like she'd lost her mind. "Huh? No, of course not."

"What? How come you..."

Cyborg leaned forward again, scrutinizing her with his human eye in a way that made her feel naked. "Raven, Beast Boy wouldn't hurt you even if you were trying to kill him with a chainsaw." He gave her a wan smile. A knowing smile. "You know that, right?"

Raven looked away, that guilty feeling coming back full throttle. "Yeah," she admitted softly. "I know."

"You get what I'm saying here, right? I don't care what you guys do, just… don't hurt him. The guy's got a soft heart."

"I know."

Scrunching up his face in amusement, Cyborg poked her arm a few times. "Is that why you like him?"

"Aaand that's my cue." Leaving her book behind, she phased backward through the couch and retreated toward the doors that led out into the hall.

"What'd I say?" Cyborg laughed from the couch. "Come on, I'm sorry, I won't make fun! I promise!"

Raven paused with her hand over the control switch, contemplating for a moment before turning back to face her friend. "You don't need to worry," she said. "We're not…" She pushed her hair away from her face impatiently, turning the words over in her mind before saying them. She hadn't said it aloud yet. Not to herself, not to Beast Boy, not to anyone; yet when she finally said it she knew it was true. "We're not just messing around."

Cyborg's brief look of shock gave her the upper hand, so that when she said the next part he didn't even have time to think of a proper joke before she left him alone in the common room.

"And yes," she added, still drinking in his surprise with relish, "that's why I like him. So you can shut up about it already."

Suffice it to say that Cyborg shut up about it.

Something I've often seen in stories where BB and Rae hook up for the first time is Cyborg putting on his big brother pants and telling B he'll kill him if he hurts Raven. The idea behind that whole interaction has never seemed quite right to me. There was something off and out of character about it. Then I realized what was wrong with it, and so this is my personal take on how I think it would actually go down.

Take it or leave it.

Love ya, thanks for reading! xoxo