Behind the Scenes 9 - Plot Twist
I am sorry it took me so long to get round to this. I have no excuse lol. Anyway, on with the show!
For a solid ten seconds (it's longer than it sounds) the pair stood and stared dumbly at each other, green eyes meeting indigo in mutual surprise. Neither struggled for words, both of their minds blank aside from the bizarre feeling that they had been caught doing something they shouldn't. After those ten seconds, other thoughts started to run through them, questions and confusion. For once, Beast Boy was quickest to recover his wits.
"Uh... couldn't sleep, right?" he asked, plainly. Raven, shaken from her stupor, crossed her arms and looked at the wall, her cheeks slightly pink.
"R-right," she stammered, simultaneously cursing herself for doing so. She didn't stammer: she was Raven.
"Me too. Either. Me either," Beast Boy dithered, just about resisting the urge to facepalm. The silence returned, this time with the pair of them looking at anything but each other, fidgety and restless. Finally, Raven uncrossed her arms and let out an impatient grumble.
"This is ridiculous. We both know why we're still awake, we both know we were on our way to do the same thing... You can't sleep on your own, can you?" she said, more a statement than a true question. Beast Boy shook his head.
"No... I thought if I checked on you, maybe I could," he mumbled, still embarrassed.
"As did I. And now we have checked on each other," she said. Beast Boy nodded, now looking back at her again.
"Yeah... I guess I'll head back to bed, then. Uh... g'night, Rae," he said with a smile. Raven nodded politely with a tiny smile of her own.
"Goodnight, Beast Boy," she said before turning and disappearing into the darkness of her room, quickly hidden in turn by her door. Outwardly cheerful, Beast Boy headed back to his room, dutifully ignoring the twinge of disappointment in his gut. He stepped through the still open door, shut it behind him, and crawled into his cooling bed. He pulled the blankets tight around his shoulders and rolled over on one side, issuing a sigh of contentment as he closed his eyes and began to slowly, slowly drift off... to complete and unabating wakefulness. He huffed and lay on his back, his fists thumping down either side of him as he stared up at the upper bunk, wishing for sleep to take him. Sleep decided to leave him well alone and, after another half hour, he was starting to feel genuinely upset: he was so tired. Why wouldn't his eyes even stay shut? He was desperate. Maybe he could go talk to Raven again. Was she even still awake? If he woke her up after she had so much trouble herself, there would be hell to pay, no pun intended. What to do, what to do, what-
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
His train of thought derailed. He rose and moved to the door, slapping at the open button.
"Raven?" he said. Indeed, there she was, at his door. She blushed and stepped past him into his room.
"Don't make a big deal of this. You have a spare bunk and I don't," she explained, hurriedly. He watched as she floated up to the level of the upper bunk and examined the bedding: it was clean enough but it had sat undisturbed for a while. With a thought, the thin layer of dust laying on it gathered itself into a floating blob before Raven's eyes and vanished. She pulled back the now immaculate sheets and climbed in. She looked down at Beast Boy, mouth still gaping. "Goodnight, Beast Boy," she said again, a little heat in her voice, a mix of irritation, fatigue and mild embarrassment. He shook himself and grinned up at her, warmly, anxious to make their impromptu sleepover as relaxed as possible.
"G'night, Rae," he answered. He climbed into bed and was asleep in minutes...
Beast Boy sat at the breakfast bar in his kitchen, still in his sleepwear, a white vest and white and blue striped pajama bottoms. He sipped coffee and smiled and winked at his companion who sat opposite: Raven. Peculiarly, she wore exactly the same as he did. Weird. They finished their coffee at the same time, stood up in unison, and in perfect synchronicity, spoke to each other.
"Time for work!" they both said. They started to walk to the front door, Beast Boy glancing down and realising he was wearing a suit. He looked at Raven: she wore an identical suit, though tailored for her physique. His thoughts lingered for a moment on her and how she looked amazing even in traditionally masculine clothes. He shook his head and opened the door. On the other side was the common room, and he saw they were now wearing their Titan uniforms. The lights flashed red and Raven sighed and smiled at him.
"Oh well... the sooner we start, the sooner we can get home," she said. He grinned up at her, already looking forward to spending the evening with his beautiful wife. Raven's smile dropped and her eyes widened.
"Oh! Sorry, Beast Boy, I didn't mean to wake you." Beast Boy looked around: he was in his bedroom in the Tower, sat upright in his bed and staring at Raven. That's right, she had spent the night here... and then he had dreamed of her. He shook his head, trying to clear it of the confusing dream, and glanced at his clock. It read 6am.
"Whoa! Something wake you up?" he asked, blinking sleepily. Raven smirked at him.
"No, this is when I usually wake up, Beast Boy," she said. He flopped back down into his bed.
"But we were awake so late!" he whined. Raven shrugged.
"Clearly my routine is too deeply entrenched in my mind. It's okay, I generally need less sleep than most humans anyway. Thank you for... for letting me stay," she said, her voice small.
"Don't worry about it. Not like I wasn't getting anything out of it," he answered, his arm slung across his eyes. Raven smiled again and let herself out. He moved his arm and looked at the door as it closed, smiling warmly at the memory of Raven in her pajamas. Raven was a guarded person, to say the least, and he was pleased he was one of the few allowed to see her so... well, unguarded. He turned on his side, away from the door, and let his eyes close as he tried to sink back into sleep. He failed. "Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me!" he grumbled. After last night and with his mind still befuddled by sleep, he lurched out of bed, dragging a blanket with him across the floor, grumbling again when it got stuck in his door as he left his room. He stumbled down the corridor, his eyes opening every few steps to make sure he was still heading in the right direction. The double doors opened and he entered the common room - sure enough, Raven hovered in front of the window, not yet meditating but first having a cup of tea. She turned and blinked as the sleepy Beast Boy lurched towards her. Without a word, he collapsed face-first on the couch and pulled the blanket over himself, including his head.
"Beast Boy?" Raven muttered. From within the lump, a muffled voice could be heard.
"Couldn't sleep," he mumbled. Raven shook her head as her companion, apparently, fell back to sleep. Not knowing what else to do, she turned back to the window, finished her tea, and then began her meditation. The world around her fell away, her consciousness becoming closer to the universe around her. The vastness of existence swallowed her up and the cosmos spun in the palm of her hand. She muttered her mantra and the two contradictory sensations were moved aside, there was now nothing but Raven and the warm, calm-
*THUD*
Raven's eyes snapped open and the Universe, the World and the Tower all crashed back into place. She spun around, already aiming a glare at the sound. She paused at the sight: Beast Boy had fallen to the floor... mostly. His head was on the floor as were his shoulder, his face aimed at the ceiling. His hips were on the edge of the couch and his legs were still seated, tangled in his blanket. Despite it all, he was still sound asleep and smiling softly.
"Pff... Snrk... Heh," Raven squeaked, trying valiantly to hold it all in. For the first time she failed and laughed. She fell back to earth with a slight bump as she did, and it only made her laugh more, though she managed to remain quiet enough for Beast Boy to slumber on. When finally she stopped, she opened her eyes and looked with rare fondness at the changeling. With a sigh, she stood and went to his side, prodding his cheek with her finger. He squirmed and shifted.
"Nnng... hide an' seek with Batman? No way..." he mumbled, causing Raven to snigger again. She stood and tapped his shoulder with her foot.
"Come on, wake up," she muttered. His eyes flickered and opened and he blinked up at her. His mouth stretched into a wide grin at the sight of her.
"Hiya, Rae-Rae," he said. Raven rolled her eyes at him, though she still smiled briefly.
"Get up before you hurt yourself," she suggested, hands on hips. Finally realising his situation, Beast Boy struggled to his feet and yawned widely. Raven grimaced and wrinkled her nose at the display, though Beast Boy did have the decency to flush a little in embarrassment.
"Oh... sorry, Rae. I guess part of me is used to being on my own when I wake up," he said. Raven folded her arms as her expression relaxed.
"Apology accepted. It's going to be inconvenient to say the least if we can't sleep while separated... we-" At that point, Raven had glanced to her left. How she hadn't noticed, she couldn't guess, but there stood Robin, arms folded and a stern look on his face. There was a long moment of silence, all of them stood frozen. Finally, Robin spoke.
"So... anything you two need to tell me?"
Whoops! They couldn't even keep that under wraps for a single day, the losers! Anyway, the slightly embarrassing cat is out of the proverbial bag, what shall they do next?
-Jack