A/N: It's been a while, and I apologize. As some of my followers on tumblr already know, my laptop crashed and I only recently got my new one in and all set up to go. Not to fret! Updates are coming! In the mean time, have some fluff.
You're the One
8. Pistachio
For once in his life, things were going great.
He hadn't messed up, and Raven was thoroughly enjoying herself. Or, at least, she wasn't glaring daggers at him and demanding to go home fifteen minutes into their impromptu 'date'.
They had gone to see a live band, one of the few they both enjoyed, hung out at a vegetarian friendly café for some tea and orange juice, and now they had arrived at a famous ice cream parlour. It came highly recommended as one of the tastiest places in all of Jump City, boasting a variety of flavours that no other restaurant could compare. Beast Boy could not wait to try it out, and he was equally antsy to impress Raven. He'd all but dragged her by the hand towards it, his mouth salivating pre-emptively at the thought of the delicious, cold treat.
The female Titan on the other hand, did not seem half as excited.
"It's just ice cream, Beast Boy," she'd drawled in her usual disinterested tone of voice.
"Just ice cream?! JUST ice cream?! Raven, I don't think you understand the caliber of what you're saying; this place has over fifty-two flavors, and is renown for it's rich ingredients and special recipe! It's ice cream gold in your mouth, Rae. Your taste buds are going to implode when you try it!"
Raven lifted a brow in amusement. "To think, of all the things in this world, and ice cream is what sparks your passion," she commented dryly.
The green skinned changeling had never been easily dissuaded before, and he was not going to take no for an answer now. If Raven wasn't going to be excited about it, then he would just have to be through the roof for the both of them. He practically bounded through the restaurant doors, dragging his unconvinced teammate with him, as the bells chimed with their arrival. He spotted a secluded table for two in the corner by the window, and beamed before tugging her towards it.
"You just sit tight right here, and I'll grab us a couple of scoops!" He instructed as Raven took a begrudging seat.
The empath sighed, but did not provide any further argument.
As promised, Beast Boy left his date with the company of her own thoughts, and made his way to the front of the store. The long glass casing displayed all the flavours anyone could wish for, from butternut cream to brownie fudge chocolate. It was all he could do not to create a puddle of drool on the checkered tiled floors of the place; he could hardly decide on which two he wanted to taste the most.
"See anything you like, sir?" The cashier queried kindly, drawing Beast Boy's attention away from the ice cream briefly.
He nodded. "It's a tough decision, but I think I know which ones I'm going to get! I'll have a scoop of the strawberry cheesecake and a scoop of the dark chunky chocolate monkey please!" He grinned excitedly, and the cashier quickly set to work on his order.
Only once she'd set it before him in a mountain of deliciousness did Beast Boy remember he had to order for two.
"Would that be all for you today?"
He froze, rooted to the spot.
Beast Boy stared at the endless sea of flavours as they seemingly melded together in his blurring vision. He blanched nervously and gulped as he realized something new and unfortunate.
Beast Boy had no idea what Raven's favourite flavour of ice cream was.
He looked behind him apprehensively, at the lonesome goth girl sitting in the back of the shop, and somehow knew he was doomed for failure.
She quirked an inky black brow at him to communicate her confusion, and he smiled back widely, trying to mask his deteriorating emotional state from her unnaturally keen senses.
"Uh, sir? Was there anything else you wanted to order?" The cashier brought his gaze back to her, and Beast Boy immediately turned away from Raven's scrutinizing, perplexed stare, much to his relief. Being faced with her alluring eyes often made him feel like he was under the heated pressure of a microscope. She always did read him like an open book.
Raven watched him say something incomprehensible to the cashier, and noted the following shocked expression registering on the young girl's face, her freckled cheeks reddening. Then, without waiting for the server to prepare the dessert, he turned and strolled confidently back over to where his gorgeous date awaited him.
"Uh, Beast Boy? Where's the ice cream?" The empath asked him, looking beyond his shoulder to witness the panicked server scrambling about behind the counter.
The changeling seemed far more mellow than he had earlier, grinning toothily at his date while swinging his arm around the empty chair beside him. "Not to worry! I have a special order coming in, just for you," he answered, wiggling his eyebrows at Raven suggestively.
"Beast Boy…," Raven started, eyeing the tray the server was currently filling.
"Yes?" He cooed playfully.
"Did you…Did you order one of everything?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I might have," he replied smoothly.
Her eyes went wide as she noted fifty-two cups, each full with a single scoop of ice cream, heading their way from a most disgruntled employee.
Though maintaining a creepy, forced smile in the server's direction, Raven hissed under her breath to Beast Boy; "Why in the name of Azerath would you ever do such a thing?"
Her carefully contained annoyance seemed to boggle the green Titan's mind, and his ears notably drooped. "I, uh, I figured while we were here, we should taste all of them to, uh, to figure out which ones we liked best, and to uhm, recommend them to the rest of the gang!" He sputtered desperately.
She was always good at calling his bluffs, and had their sever not been placing all fifty-two cups on their table just then, she may have vocalized her prediction.
Beast Boy chuckled nervously, and scratched at the back of his head, avoiding Raven's purple leer. Like he always did whenever he knew he was guilty. Raven had been quick to learn that it was one of his more obvious tells.
"Enjoy your ice cream," the adolescent girl squeaked before turning on her heels and ignoring them.
Once she was out of ear shot, Raven glared at her teammate, the terrifying smile long gone and replaced with a lip jutting frown. "You want to explain?" She folded her arms over her chest and waited.
"I told you," Beast Boy piped up, "I couldn't make up my mind, and figured I wanted to taste every flavour! So, uh, which one did you want to start with? Probably your favourite, right? I mean, obviously your favourite of course, which is…," he drifted off, waiting for her to fill in the blanks.
She knew, then.
She could see through him like he was as transparent as glass, and just as fragile.
Annoyance was replaced with wonder as she gleaned the truth behind his actions. "Sweet Azerath, you did this just because you didn't remember what flavour I liked?"
Beast Boy silently twiddled his thumbs, seemingly captivated by a stain on the floor beneath his feet.
Raven sighed deeply. "Beast Boy, why didn't you just ask me?"
He shrugged his shoulders, fidgeting uncomfortably in his chair. "I panicked, okay…," he explained simply. "I just didn't want to mess up our date. For once, it was going so well. I thought that maybe this time, she'll have fun. Maybe this time, I won't be such a screw up, and she won't be wishing she was with someone else instead…Heh, so much for that," he spoke in a small, defeated voice, and Raven was unsure if he was speaking to her or himself.
Her expression softened then, and she changed the subject. "I'm going to try the minty looking one first," she told him, her plastic spoon in hand as she eyed the strangely coloured treat in the cup closest to her.
"I think that's pistachio, Rae," he corrected her, temporarily forgetting about his troubles.
"Isn't it matcha green tea?"
He shook his head. "There's pieces of the nuts in it. See?"
Beast Boy used his spoon to dig into the scoop and show her the bits of green pistachio sprinkled within the ice cream. She dug in, and brought the cold, sweet cream to her mouth. He watched her as she tasted it with the tip of her pink tongue. With bated breath, he awaited her final judgement.
"This is…," she started, taking another lick at the spoonful.
Beast Boy leaned in, anticipating. "Yeah?"
"It's…It's the most delightful thing I've ever had. Oh Azar, why haven't I had this flavour before?" Raven chirped, digging into another spoonful of the stuff.
Her eyes were wide in registered shock, and Beast Boy appeared both genuinely overjoyed and surprised by her reaction. He chuckled before warning her; "Easy there, Rae. Eat it too fast and you'll-"
"Ow!" Raven cursed, clutching at her head in excruciating pain.
"…Get brain freeze…," Beast Boy finished with a slow shake of his head.
She hissed, her eyes squeezed shut from the emanating waves of discomfort in her temples. Eventually, it dissipated, and through a teary gaze, she regarded a grinning, green changeling seated before her.
"Have some water," he insisted, pushing a glass over to her.
Raven groaned aloud, but sipped at the refreshing liquid anyways. Once she settled the beverage back onto the table and was feeling significantly better, Raven admitted to something she knew her teammate would have trouble believing; "I don't really like ice cream, to be honest. I never have. I tolerate the green tea flavor mostly, but only if I absolutely have to eat it." She played with her spoon in the now empty ice cream cup before her, swirling patterns into the remnants of the green liquid she'd just consumed.
Raven met Beast Boy's stunned expression with anxious eyes. "I do, however, always enjoy the company," she stated simply, unable to hold his gaze.
After a brief moment of comfortable silence while this new information sunk in, Beast Boy managed to find his voice again, albeit it was a lot quieter than normal. "So, pistachio."
"Hm?"
Beast Boy's face split into a wide grin. "Your favourite flavour, it's got to be pistachio. And you said you didn't like anything the colour green," he teased her.
"…I'm dating you, aren't I?" She quipped.
Beast Boy flushed visibly, but kept wearing his coy smile.
"Now, I do believe we still have fifty-one flavours left to try. Care to turn into some kind of animal with more than one stomach?"
A/N: Just one of those slow realization moments for Raven here, and Beast Boy learning more about his new girlfriend. I kept it minimal on purpose. You know what to do at this point.