Because there was no Rob/Star or BB/Rae last chapter, this one will be dedicated to everyone who missed those four Titans. This is in all honesty one of my favorite chapters so far and I hope you enjoy it too!

The four Titans arrived at the tower later that day around ten o'clock. The air was clear, and there had been little to no problems with the weather, vehicle, or driving, and thus the trip was quick and easy. Jump hadn't suffered as horribly with the weather as the small house they'd taken refuge in the previous night had, and the only evidence of a storm were small piles of snow about the city. Upon arriving back at the house, a certain shape-shifter's first intent had been to go crash into his bed for a ten-hour nap, but Robin insisted that work came before play, or in this case, the nap. Beast Boy grudgingly obliged to the order, joining Raven, Starfire, and Robin in the ops room for a hopefully quick clean-up.

The ocean of pillows seemed to be even more vast than when they had left it, especially to the teenagers' tired eyes, but with insistent urging from Robin, they started to gather the pillows together. Starfire was paired with Robin, and the duo was working as efficiently as possible a weary couple of teenagers could. They moved the cushions in a comfortable silence, seeing as Beast Boy had left at the start for a "bathroom break" and Raven simply disappeared into her room with a few words to let her teammates know she'd be back in a few minutes. Robin would have been more irritated had it not been that he was spending some alone time with Starfire.

"Robin?" Starfire inquired, faintly straining her neck to keep her head above the rising mound of pillows.

Robin carefully placed a blue cushion in her arms, taking care to balance it perfectly so the stack wouldn't fall and he'd have another "hot potato" incident. "Yeah Star?"

"I enjoyed yesterday very much so, even if we were slightly chilled because of the weather," she stated with a gentle smile aimed in her leader's direction. Robin had to smirk at the word slightly.

"Well, seeing how Beast Boy kept complaining about the cold, I'd say it was a little more than slightly chilled. I consider us lucky that the snow is melting so quickly in Jump City." He and Starfire both chuckled. "But yeah, I had fun too," Robin agreed, giving her an affectionate grin in response.

Starfire's head was now all but buried beneath the tower of pillows piled in her arms; it was so high that Robin was unable to see her face, instead only a few strands of red hair sticking out from behind the cushions. A thought suddenly struck the leader, and he reddened just at the idea of what had crossed his mind. Yet Robin was not one lacking in courage, and, however unfamiliar the situation was to him, the Titan leader wasn't prepared to remain mute. Grateful that the beautiful girl could not see his embarrassment through the pillows -although she would probably hear it plain in his voice- Robin stammered, "U-uh, Star?"

Starfire indeed heard the reluctance in his words, and she took on an air of uncertainty to match his. "Yes Robin?"

"Are we… boyfriend and girlfriend?"

The question surprised Starfire so much that she dropped the pillows. They slipped through her arms, landing with soft thuds on the ground to reveal the astonished girl staring at her friend. Robin didn't even react to the undoing of all their hard work, instead merely stared back at her with scarlet cheeks. The silence pricked at Robin's skin, and he awkwardly cleared his throat, rubbing the back of neck. "Uh… F-forget I asked."

"But Robin…" Starfire's soft voice made the boy's breath catch in his throat. "I had hoped that, if we were not, we could be."

"R-really?"

Starfire nodded, the rosiness of her cheeks giving her a warm glow. Robin's shoulders dropped a little as if releasing the weight he carried from trapping the question within him, and the Titan leader suddenly swept the girl into his arms, heart pounding. Starfire returned the embrace as strong as he did, though taking care to keep her alien strength in mind. After a moment, the couple drew back from the affectionate hug that very well could signal the start to a hopefully long-lasting relationship. Robin smiled warmly at the alien princess, and she surprised him yet again when she tipped forward, landing a light kiss on his lips. Robin stayed still, slightly stunned but more-so just enjoying the tingle that remained on his lips when Starfire drew back. He was abruptly pulled from his daze when Starfire hit him on the side of the head with a pillow.

She laughed, airy and bright, and Robin had to snort with amusement. Snatching up a pillow of his own, the young leader slipped toward Starfire, the girl giving a playful yelp as he gently smacked the cushion against her arm. Somehow they ended up on the carpet, laughing and wrestling and hitting each other with pillows. They had paused to catch their breath when the main doors slid apart, revealing Raven and Beast Boy in the entrance. They both stopped walking and smirked.

"You know," Raven said with a shake of her head, "it doesn't look like you're being very efficient with your clean-up."

Beast Boy nodded. "Yeah dudes! I thought it was work before play, remember?" He ducked, grinning as Robin chucked a pillow at him.

The leader pointed at the younger boy. "Shut up and go take your nap," he commanded as, blushing, Starfire sat up on his lap. Beast Boy shrugged. He wasn't tired anymore, especially since his "bathroom break" –which had really been an attempt to sneak into his sleeping quarters for a snooze- was interrupted by a skeptical Raven on the way back from her room. The shape-shifter had faked innocence that even a blind man could see through, and then allowed Raven to lead him back to the ops room. Now that he was here, however, Beast Boy didn't feel much like taking a nap. Instead, he was rather hungry.

"Who's up for an early dinner?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the nearby teenagers. As Robin and Starfire were somewhat caught up in each other's company at the moment, Raven was the only one to hear him. She crossed her arms.

"Are you suggesting that you are going to make something for the rest of us?" the empath questioned.

Beast Boy smiled widely at her. "If you're the alternative, then yeah. We all remember the disaster your pancakes were that one time you made breakfast."

"How could I forget when you keep reminding me about it?" Raven asked him, causing the green teenager to grin again. She turned away, preparing to exit to her room, and called back, "Just don't cook anything poisonous, okay?"

"Whoa, hang on, Rae," Beast Boy summoned, beckoning to her with a finger. Raven faced him, sighing as Beast Boy shook his head. "If I'm going to make something you like, you're gonna have to help me. It's only fair."

Finding no outright reason to deny his statement, Raven unfolded her arms and joined him in the kitchen. There were no pillows there luckily, for Robin and Starfire had started their clean-up from the stove on out. Beast Boy ducked beneath the counter, popping back up with an enormous cookbook in his hands. He threw it down beside the sink, glancing at Raven. "Okay-dokey, since this is the first time you're going to prepare something edible-," –Raven snorted at this-, "-you're gonna need to follow the rules of cooking. What's the first thing you do?" Beast Boy quizzed.

"Figure out what you're going to eat," Raven guessed. "I assume that would be the common sense answer," she added matter-of-a-factly.

"Well, yeah, but I meant after that." Beast Boy waved his hand, brushing off her response. He flipped through the cookbook as he spoke, stopping when he found what he was searching for. The teenager's attention focused back to Raven, and she realized he was awaiting an answer.

She blinked. "Ingredients?"

To her surprise, Beast Boy shook his head, pointing at her shamefully. "Wrong! Rule number one: Always wash your hands before you start anything with food!"

Raven hid a smirk as the shape-shifter twisted on the faucet's handle. "Oh, I meant after that." He stuck his tongue at her, and then poured an unnecessary amount of liquid soap into his palm. Raven drew beside him, taking a squirt of liquid soap and rubbing it on her hands. "So, what is it that you ha-?"

Beast Boy interrupted, running his hands through the water and scrubbing the soap until it foamed into a lather. "Chef."

"Excuse me?"

"Call me chef."

Raven looked at him incredulously. "I am not calling you chef." He pouted as the dark girl went on. "As I was saying, what is it you have planned for us to make? Sandwiches?" she assumed.

"Sandwiches?" Beast Boy scoffed, finally moving away from the sink to dry his hands. "What's the fun in that? You can't get messy!" Raven took his place, gasping softly at the cold water hit her skin, and she was quick to rinse her hands off.

"That's kind of my point," the empath uttered, shooting a glance in his direction. She didn't know why he had planned something messy -and therefore probably also complicated- to cook; they both knew how untalented she was in the kitchen.

Beast Boy was oblivious of her silent misgivings, and he spoke to Raven over his shoulder as he opened a few cabinets, drawing ingredients out. "I was thinking something more like rolls and a salad. Figured you wouldn't want tofu," he added, sliding a bag of flour across the counter at her. A small cloud of the white dust rose into the air at its movement, making Raven cough. "But it should be enough to fill us up. Unless you're ravenously hungry," he jested with a wink.

Raven groaned. How long had he been waiting to use that one? "Hopefully your cooking skills aren't as sour as your jokes."

"Well then." Beast Boy frowned, disappointed, and gestured to the collection of food items cluttered together next to the sink. "If you're so smart, how about you start without me?" Raven lifted an eyebrow at the challenge, and without hesitation, stepped up to the counter. Yet, her inexperience immediately showed when she mistook a ravioli recipe for the rolls one. Snickering, Beast Boy pointed out to her the correct page and recipe, and that was when the real hard part began. She looked at the laughing shape-shifter beside her.

"There are more than one kinds of flour?"

While Raven struggled to deal with the simple task of making dinner, Robin and Starfire decided that it was better to go out for a meal instead of stay inside and wait an hour or more for Raven and Beast Boy to start. Besides, Robin's stomach still did flips at the thought of Raven's bubbling pancakes however long ago they had come into existence. The Titan leader grimaced. Beast Boy had his hands full; hopefully when Robin and Starfire came back, the tower would have remained standing. With that ominous thought in mind, the two Titans left to head out into Jump City.

Beast Boy had taken pity on Raven, and together they had managed to get most of the ingredients into a bowl. If it was the correct measurements, on the other hand, was left to be questioned, as was the amount of spilt food on the counters. The two Titans were too preoccupied to notice the mess they were making.

"Wha-err-where's the whisk?" Raven called for, scanning the room.

Beast Boy was having much more fun than he should have been as he replied, "Do you even know what a whisk is?"

Raven shot him a look. "It doesn't matter as long as you get it for me." Holding his hands out innocently, the shape-shifter snatched up a large fork and offered it to the girl. Raven inspected the appliance a moment, glancing at Beast Boy to see if he was pulling her leg. When his expression offered no deception, the empath nodded. Beast Boy stifled a chuckle.

"That's not a whisk."

With a groan, Raven tossed the fork into the sink, and it clattered loudly. "Beast Boy…"

"Okay, okay, okay." This time a small utensil with coiled wires was placed in her hands, accompanied by the words, "I promise that this is actually a whisk."

"I don't even think I care anymore." Raven clumsily cracked an egg against the edge of the counter, grimacing as half of it slipped out of the shell and onto the floor, the other half sticking to her fingers. She shook her hand over the sink, flecks of white and yellow flying all over. That had been her third attempt at breaking an egg, and by far it was her most successful. They were still waiting for the first one to fall from the ceiling.

Beast Boy sighed, picking out an unbroken tofu egg from the carton. "How many times I gotta tell you? You tap it, not whack it!"

Raven shook her head. "Did you come up with that yourself?"

"Yes, in fact, I did!" the shape-shifter declared rather proudly. "Okay, try it again." Hiding her reluctance, Raven grabbed another egg, holding it delicately this time. She never thought she'd see the day when she looked to Beast Boy for guidance on how to do something. Then again, she never thought she'd see the day when she'd be cooking on her own accord. Again. Beast Boy knocked his egg on the counter, and a nice clean crack fractured the side. Pulling the shell apart, he was able to extract the yoke from within and get it into the bowl without too much of a mess. Slowly, Raven followed his example, and this time she managed to keep the egg from spilling onto the floor or into her hand.

"There you go!" Beast Boy applauded as she succeeded in getting the egg in the bowl. "Alright, just one more." Raven grumbled something beneath her breath about why she was even doing this when suddenly a streak of yellow and white plummeted from the ceiling into the bowl, splattering some the contents onto the girl. Beast Boy burst out laughing, and Raven just looked at him.

"Well, there's your egg."

This made Beast Boy laugh harder, and even Raven had to smile slightly. Eventually the shape-shifter calmed down enough to suppress his laugh into a quiet chuckle, and, wiping a tear from his eye, turned to the cookbook. "Alright then, what's next?"

Raven blinked. "Are you serious?"

Beast Boy scanned the page, tracing a finger under the words. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"But that just fell from the ceiling. You want to eat it?"

He smirked, glancing at Raven. "Would you rather it have come from the floor? We don't walk on the ceiling."

Keeping in mind to never eat anything Beast Boy cooked ever again, Raven rubbed her cheek and asked tiredly. "Please just tell me what's next."

Beast Boy clapped his hands together, a puff of flour rising in the air from the action. "Good news; you're almost done. The next part is easy." He pointed to the whisk. "See that thing? You just gotta use it to mix up all that stuff we put in the bowl."

Raven glared at the dish doubtfully. "It should be easy. Let's find out," she muttered to herself, placing the whisk inside and slowly stirring. The empath realized that Beast Boy was hovered over her shoulder, watching her movements with a critical eye. As if things weren't difficult enough already. Raven tried distracting him. "So when exactly did you learn how to cook?"

Her teammate's attention wasn't very difficult to divert. He tapped his finger on his chin thoughtfully, leaving behind a white smudge of flour. "Well, since Cyborg never cooks my tofu stuff 'cause it's 'inedible', I always have to make myself dinner. I kinda ended up getting the hang of it after a while. But don't tell Star I can cook," he added hastily. "She'll want lessons or something." Raven smirked, and Beast Boy's sights fell to her hands. "You know you're doing it wrong."

The dark girl grumbled, holding the whisk out to him. Expertly, Beast Boy began beating the mix at a faster, more controlled pace. "It can't be too slow or you'll never get done. Like this." He demonstrated to Raven a moment or two more before giving the beater back to her. She struggled to copy his earlier movements, but to her dismay she only succeeded in spilling liquid on her arm. "Come on, Rae, it's not that hard," Beast Boy encouraged, stepping behind her. He grasped her hand in his, gripping the handle and showing her how to hold the whisk correctly. Raven immediately stiffened at the contact. Ever since that one moment at the small house, she and Beast Boy had acted normal around one another, yet Raven was certain that something like that could only change things between them. It was just a matter of time. The young shape-shifter, however, had given no impression that he thought like that, but then again, neither had Raven.

His other hand rested on her arm, causing the empath to start suddenly at the unexpected touch. Beast Boy's palm gently moved over her shoulder, murmuring in her ear as he did, "Just relax, Raven. You'll find it's easier." Raven inaudibly took a deep breath, forcing her body to loosen up. Beast Boy's hand guided her own, rapidly whisking the ingredients in the bowl together, but the girl was barely conscious of her doing so. Concentrating on the shape-shifter's words, Raven started to feel her shoulders really ease up, and her focus settled on Beast Boy's warm hand that was moving unperceptively down her arm. His body was the nearest it had been to hers since the house, and Raven fought to control the impulse to blush once more.

"Ta-da!" Beast Boy abruptly grinned, his canine tooth catching the light as he gazed down at the finished product of their whisking. "Look at that, it's beautiful!" Raven dragged her eyes to the blend of ingredients in front of them, now stuck together into a doughy paste. Beast Boy released his hold on her, and Raven suppressed a shudder. The shape-shifter approached the cookbook, calling to his teammate, "Alright, so now we get it into the oven."

"Maybe you should do that," Raven suggested, shivering at the thought of her and the oven clashing forces. Beast Boy seemed to agree, and after he and the empath had moved the dough over to the pan and put on the final touches, the green teenager lowered it into the stove. Raven gave an exhausted sigh. "Thank goodness that's over with."

Beast Boy's next words only succeeded in crushing her hopes into the ground. "Not necessarily. We still gotta make the salad while we wait for the rolls. It's really easy!" he guaranteed, seeing Raven's dangerous glare. "There's no cooking involved or anything! You can even use your hands if you want. Although-."

"Yes, yes, wash your hands first," Raven finished for him, rolling her eyes and twisting on the tap.

Beast Boy grinned. "You're learning."

The salad was indeed easier to make; much easier actually. It just took five minutes, and the only spilt food was a small tomato that Beast Boy tossed in the garbage. Soon enough, Raven was done, and she stood beside Beast Boy in the messy kitchen dripping with food everywhere. She sighed, glancing around. The food paired with the pillows was just adding up to be a wonderful jumble of untidiness. "This is a mess. We really need to reconsider hiring a maid for the tower."

"Pft," Beast Boy waved his hand, accidentally spraying the empath with dough stuck to his fingers. "But it was fun, right?"

"Never again," Raven replied, trying to hide her smirk. "I'll leave the cooking to you and Cyborg next time."

Beast Boy chuckled, scanning over her and then his own body with his eyes. He shook his head. "Ah, you know what? We should have worn aprons."

"Somehow I doubt it would have made much of a difference," Raven replied, wiping her hands on her legs and then immediately regretting it when egg stuck to her skin. "Ugh, I need a shower."

Nodding at her, Beast Boy agreed. "Yeah, me too. How about you go first and I'll try to clean up your mess?" Raven snorted, but obliged to his suggestion, all too ready to go get the eggshell remains and flour out of her hair.

Fifteen to twenty minutes later, Raven emerged from the bathroom, hair wet and completely free of any food remnants. She entered the main room in a new outfit identical to her previous one, save that it was not stained with eggs and flour. The empath walked in, stopping with surprise at the sight that met her. Beast Boy had somehow managed to wipe off any trace of their cooking fiasco from the face of the earth. Granted there was still the occasional stain on the floor or on the counter or behind the refrigerator, but at a quick glance one could barely see it and Silkie would eventually lick the food off anyway. At the table nearby, two dinner plates were set up on opposite sides, awaiting food to be placed upon them. The small salad was there as well, but Beast Boy himself was nowhere to be found, presumably using the other shower in the building.

A loud bell from the stove went off, making Raven jump with surprise. It rang again, and the empath realized that the rolls were probably done. She bit her lip, glancing at the door. When Beast Boy didn't show up, the girl sighed and approached the oven, opening it cautiously. The alarm shut off as she reached inside, grasping the edge of the pan with her bare hands, only to let out a small whimper as the heated metal stung her fingers. Grumbling at her carelessness, Raven stuck her burnt fingers in her mouth for a moment until the prickling faded. Spotting a pair of oven mitts nearby, the empath pulled them on, this time being slower to grab the pan. When no unexpected pain bit at her hands, she withdrew the rolls from the oven and placed them on the top of the stove. Behind her, the sound of the doors sliding apart reached Raven's ears.

"Dude, something smells good!" Beast Boy strolled in, his nose breathing in the air. He spotted Raven by the stove. "Hey, you got the rolls out without my help! Nice!" Raven nodded, "forgetting" to mention her slightly scorched fingers that resulted from her actions. Beast Boy walked over to the empath, hitting a button on the stove. His eyes shifted first to the oven mittens lying on the counter and then to her hands, and Raven couldn't believe that he knew she must have hurt herself. He didn't say anything to address it though, instead letting a smile stretch over his face. "Okay then, time to eat!"

Raven glanced at the clock. It was ten minutes to one o'clock. "Isn't it a little early for supper?"

"Yeah for supper, but not for… lupper!"

Raven looked at him. "What?"

"Lunch and supper." Beast Boy shrugged, throwing the rolls into a miniature basket. "Kinda like brunch, except later in the day." Raven rolled her eyes as Beast Boy handed her the basket, and they advanced in the direction of the small setup at the table. The two sat down across from one another, Raven placing the basket in between them. "I guess we're here to eat all by ourselves," Beast Boy said aloud, grabbing a roll and some butter.

Raven realized that Robin and Starfire must have long since left, and the empath quirked an eyebrow. "Good; I don't know who else would want to eat this after seeing what we've done to it."

Beast Boy pointed at the bowl next to the dark teenager. "Wanna pass me the salad, Rae?"

"Please," Raven said, not looking up from her plate.

"Huh?" It took Beast Boy a minute to realize what she was saying. "Oh, right. Please give me the salad."

"Please what?"

This made the shape-shifter do a double take, and he scratched his head. "Please wha-?" Understanding dawned on him. "Oh, I am not calling you chef, Rae! You so did not earn the title!" Raven hid a small chuckle and handed him the salad, taking a bite out of one of her rolls at the same time, and then wrinkled her nose at the taste. Beast Boy glanced up. "What?"

"This tastes horrible," she replied, dropping the bread on her plate like it was poisoned.

"No, can't be." Beast Boy tested his roll, and a similar expression crossed his face. "Okay, yep it does. But that's why we've got the salad." In the kitchen, a bell rang. "Annnd these." He hopped to his feet, scurrying over to the oven and pulling out another collection of rolls from a different level than Raven's had been on. Raven stared at him as he came back to the table with the steaming food.

"You did not have faith in me," she accused, crossing her arms.

"Well, can you blame me after what you made?" Beast Boy asked, grinning as he grabbed several of his own rolls. When Raven glared at him stubbornly, he added, "But you can always stick with eating your stuff though; I don't have to share."

Raven stared at the food, her stomach complaining loudly as she took in the warm aroma that filled the air. She frowned. "Just give me one."

Beast Boy wiggled his eyebrows. "Please."

"Please give me one," Raven sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Please what?"

Unable to believe what she was doing, Raven complied, saying, "Please chef give me a roll before I throw you through the window."

"Good enough." Beast Boy slid his basket across the table to her, and Raven dug in. His meal was considerably better than hers, and Raven grudgingly accepted the fact that he was far more talented at cooking than she was. Still, he had helped her make her first edible meal, however bad it might have tasted. At least the salad wasn't a disaster.

The meal went by quickly, seeing how Beast Boy ate like the male teenager that he was and Raven was ravenously hungry –that joke wouldn't leave her for a long time-, and soon they had cleared the table of all edible food. Beast Boy let loose a loud burp, patting his stomach contently. He was surprised when Raven hardly batted an eyelash. Upon reflection, the shape-shifter realized that his teammate had hardly commented on his supposedly annoying little habits throughout their cooking lesson. "You know, Rae, I'm kinda surprised that you haven't been complaining about hanging out with me."

Raven sipped from her glass of water. "I enjoy your company at times. And I did have fun today, despite the mess we made."

Beast Boy grinned at her words, and then tilted his head slightly, scratching his ear. "I've always enjoyed hanging out with you," he confessed, and Raven ignored the increase of her heartbeat's pace. "We should do it more, right?"

A delicate smile blossomed on her lips. "That would be nice." She set down her glass. "And I have to admit, you're quite the… chef."

"A master chef," Beast Boy suggested, leaning toward her and grinning. It was rare he got to see Raven smile, and he cherished it whenever her lips curved upwards, even more so when he was the cause.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Don't push it."

A few weeks ago, I had to cook six dozen cookies for a school activity; while I am not as bad as Raven by far, I do have very little cooking talent. In fact, I don't just have little cooking talent; I have none. Thankfully, I did learn two things: Don't plan to the last day to do it or you will be up until eleven or later cooking, and frosting can make anything taste good! Raven still beats me when it comes to worst chef ever though. I never did manage to get an egg to stick to the ceiling.