Stuff Like That There
(Hugs)
by Em

"It is the way we react to circumstances that determines our feelings."
- Dale Carnegie

A/N: Went through a couple of different approaches to this one. The one I liked the most, the one I'd called "Solace" is too deep and serious to be one of these crack!fics. I then tried to make it completely crack like, and that resulted in like half a page of something that could very well be crack!fic, but which I didn't have inspiration to continue. THEN, this one came. It's not exactly crack!fic of the level of the others that came before, but it does have that 'wtf?' quality to it, at least to me.

Thanks: I love all of you who have reviewed these, but I especially love those of you who review everything I write because I really appreciate your loyalty (even though I don't know what I could've done to deserve it.) If you've asked me something specific, then I'll respond individually through fanfiction dot net's review response feature.

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06: Sleeping

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She sensed the presence on the other side of the door before the person as soon as they stood before it and so she opened the door before they could knock. Beast Boy looked at her from the open doorway in surprise. She motioned for silence and waved him inside.

Because his focus was entirely on Raven where she sat up in her bed, it took Beast Boy until he was about halfway inside the room to realize that there was someone slumped in a chair next to the bed, fast asleep. And as strange as it was to see such a sight, Beast Boy's attention nonetheless went back to Raven.

"You're knitting,"(1) he whispered when he was close enough that she would be able to hear him.

She didn't even glance at the knitting needles lying on her lap or the strands of wool she had been forming into a scarf before he interrupted. "How very observant of you," she deadpanned, her voice low.

He grinned, "You look almost..." he trailed off at her raised brow and realized he might want to consider his next word carefully, "Homey."

She glanced down at the knitting on her lap and then back at him and in the shadows of the room cast by the one bedside lamp, he could have sworn she almost smiled. "Yes, I am the epitome of Martha Stuart."

He thought to sit down, but looked at the chair they had brought close to her bed and remembered the figure sleeping there already. He looked at her and jerked a thumb in the chair's direction, raising his brows in question as he did so.

"He refused to go back to his room," she answered. "I woke up from my healing trance and there he was, fast asleep," she explained.

"He's gonna have such a crick in the neck when he wakes up," Beast Boy observed, smiling nonetheless at the image of their stoic leader scrunched up asleep on a wingback chair.

"He is going to hate himself for falling asleep at all," Raven mused.

"You want me to wake him?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven's eyes fell on the Boy Wonder's features, softened in sleep and shook her head. "No, I don't think he'd sleep if he went back to his own bed."

There was a moment of silence and when Raven turned back to Beast Boy it was to find him staring at her contemplatively. She wasn't sure she liked the thoughtful look in his eyes. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he answered and although his face was turned away from the little light and she couldn't see whether or not he was smiling, she could hear it in that one word. "How do you feel?" he asked before she could think of anything else to say.

"Fine," she answered automatically. "There will be some bruising for a few days, but that will heal."

"I wish Cinderblock would quit trying to use you as a personal rag doll," Beast Boy said suddenly.

She shook her head, "Part of the job."

"But he picks on you," Beast Boy pointed out. "I think the dude's got a crush on you."

"I think he wants to crush me, not crush on me," Raven corrected.

Beast Boy chuckled, mindful of keeping it low. "I still say he's got a crush on you."

"Funny way of showing it," Raven said.

"Not everyone is smooth as Casanova when it comes to showing their feelings," Beast Boy reminded her.

"Hm," was all Raven answered. "Are you saying Cinderblock is the supervillain equivalent of an eight year old who pulls his crush's pigtails?"

Beast Boy chuckled and nodded. "Like I said, not everyone shows their attraction the same way."

She snorted delicately.

"You should try and get some more sleep," Beast Boy said after a while.

She nodded and sought out Beast Boy's face in the half-light. "Thanks."

She saw a glint of fang as he grinned at her before turning around and walking out of the room.

Raven set aside her knitting and impulsively took hold of her extra pillow. She stood on slightly wobbly legs and walked carefully to stand in front of the chair where Robin slept. Gently, she lifted his head from the back of the chair and placed the pillow there, laying his head back against it.

She was back in bed, laying down, and about to close her eyes, when he spoke, "He's right you know."

Raven stilled for a moment, then settled the covers more fully around her. She wasn't exactly surprised that he had been awake during at least part of her conversation with Beast Boy, but she was surprised that he would so blatantly let her know he had been. "About what?" she asked.

"Not everyone shows their feelings in the same way."

She turned in the bed so that although still laying down, she was facing him. His silhouette hadn't appeared to move. "Yes," she agreed. "Some men take your ankle and toss you into a brick building to show their affection," she said lightly. They stared at each other in the darkness for awhile, unable to really look in each other's eyes, but able to feel the weight of the other's stare.

"And some can't sleep anywhere but where you are if you've been hurt." His voice sounded disembodied, and although there was the feeling of intimacy under the blanket of darkness there was the sense of disconnection as well.

"I prefer the latter," she finally spoke after a long while.

She saw him shift in shadow and the line of his silhouette changed. "Goodnight Raven."

"Goodnight, Robin," she answered, and closed her eyes, the image of Robin hugging her pillow the last thing she saw before surrendering to sleep.

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Notes:

(1) Yes, this is cartoon canon, that she knits. If you watch the episode, Winner Take All when Cyborg relates how he was trying to call the Tower to check in with BB, you see Starfire sitting by the phone and Raven knitting on the couch. I've been thinking about doing something more prominent with this, but haven't come up with something concrete. BUT, it appears here.

A/N: Yes, I'm trying to explore the Beast Boy/Raven friendship. FRIENDSHIP. And I'm trying to explore Beast Boy as a character too. I am approaching the part in the Moment-Verse when I need to have them talk, both him and Starfire, so now I'm working on having them talk with Raven to see how it goes. Not on purpose, but like with Fireflies, the person that came into the room in this one was Beast Boy. ((Shrug)) Go figure?

Like I said, I'm not too happy with this as it pertains to following the general overall crack-y-ness of these one-shots, but what the hell, right? I hope you enjoyed it anyway.