Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

This is bad. Really bad. Beast Boy had taken a shower right after he woke up, hoping and praying to whatever entity could hear him that when he saw Raven again, he would feel nothing but his usual platonic feelings for her. Except when he came in for breakfast and saw her quietly sipping her tea while paying attention to whatever new battle tactic Robin was discussing, his heart fluttered against his will. She was back to her usual style. No pretty dress, no curly hair, no make-up, no heels…but unfortunately for him, he knew she was beautiful now. He'd seen it. It was like this blindsided spot that suddenly became painfully apparent and could never be unseen. Shit. Shit. Fuck.

"Hey man, morning! Why are you standing there like you've seen a ghost or something?" Cyborg was waving at his friend from the kitchen counter.

Garfield smiled and greeted everyone, then proceeded to making his breakfast, actively avoiding looking at Raven – which was clever of him, because she was watching him intently.

"Feeling better?" The empath asked.

"Ah, yeah…I mean, still feeling a little weird but much better." Great. Now all you have to do is avoid her for the rest of our lives so she doesn't sense your hopeless crush.

Raven still thought he seemed…off somehow. And he was definitely avoiding her gaze. She narrowed her eyes. "Okay…"

The next few days were torture for Beast Boy. He got so close to being caught so many times. Fortunately, Robin hadn't had him sparring with Raven at training. But watching her was enough to make his stomach flutter. She was so majestic…so powerful and graceful. He noticed her when she was working out or watched her from afar when she was reading. She was usually too focused to be distracted by other people's feelings when she was reading. The shapeshifter avoided spending alone time with her, but when everyone was hanging out together he often did something stupid like trying to clean mustard off her face, which made everyone stare at him questioningly making him wish he could disappear into the floor like she could. Cyborg usually saved him by changing the subject.

He also wasn't picking on her anymore. He made no jokes at her expense in the last few days and he often sided with her on arguments. And when she teased him, he chuckled idiotically instead of trying to come up with some witty retort. Beast Boy knew he wasn't doing a marvelous job at hiding his feelings, but that was difficult for him. He was used to being an open book – apart from a few insecurities he kept close to his chest; he usually wore his heart on his sleeve. He knew she knew something was up. She was smart, so she definitely at least suspected something. He kept waiting for it to wear down, but it wasn't getting any better. If anything, it was getting worse.

On this one particularly painful morning, Beast Boy missed the opportunity to tease Raven about their recent discovery that Klarion the Witch Boy – who had recently decided Jump City was the new place to be for teen villains – had a thing for her after he had made some very explicit comments during a fight. Cyborg decided it was time to address this. Not only did Beast Boy not make a joke about how he could hear wedding bells or how they were a match made in Hell or something, he seemed almost…bothered by it. Almost…jealous?

"Hey, man…what's up with you lately?" They were alone playing video games so Victor Stone decided it was a good moment to discuss it.

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy was focused on the video game. He had been winning more often and he was also doing better at training which made Robin happy, but little did he know it was mostly because of repressed frustration.

"I mean what did Raven do to make you mad at her or something?"

Beast Boy gasped and nearly dropped the controller. Shit. "What? I'm not mad at her."

"Well you're something at her. You've been avoiding her for days, and when you talk to her you act…different."

Beast Boy searched his brain for what to say. He had been trying to come up with a reasonable explanation since that first night – and failing miserably. He knew that avoiding her would eventually seem odd to everyone because they had been closer than ever and spending a lot of time together. Garfield lost the game while he was thinking and now seemed like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Dude, what's going on?! Just tell me. Do you have a crush on her or something?"

It was supposed to be a joke. But then…

"I…" Beast Boy bit his lip.

A look of realization crossed Cyborg's face.

"Oh…OH." Cyborg felt like his mind was going to explode. Did I get this right!?

Beast Boy hung his head in defeat and sighed and his best friend got the confirmation he needed.

"Dude, Raven?! Seriously. Raven. This is a terrible idea." Victor said worriedly.

"It wasn't my idea, Cy. I'd never have this idea for myself. I'm not trying to get my heart broken again."

"Aren't you?" Cyborg was practically squeaking at this point.

Beast Boy just leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

The cybernetic Titan stood up and started pacing back and forth. "I mean don't get me wrong, I adore her. But after everything you've been through you couldn't figure out a more approachable goal than Satan's daughter?"

Beast Boy just grumbled grumpily, so Cyborg continued his rambling.

"I mean, what are you gonna do? How are you planning to ask Satan's daughter out?" He was trying not to laugh at his friend's absurd situation, but it was starting to get the best of him.

Another frustrated grumble escaped the shapeshifter's lips.

"Seriously dude. Satan's daughter!" That last bit was actually high-pitched.

"Would you stop calling her that? It's freaking me out."

"Well good! It should." Cyborg folded his arms pointedly. "Does she even date people? We've only ever seen her date a dragon."

"Satan isn't her father, you know?" Garfield was still staring at the ceiling and gesturing around as if that made a difference.

"No, no, you're right. It's a completely different interdimensional world-conquering overlord demon. Maybe you do have a shot."

"Ugh." Beast Boy stood up. "I'm not actually planning to ask her out or anything."

"Well, at least your brain is still functioning. But if you don't get over it, she'll found out. She's an empath, you know."

"Why do you think I've been avoiding her?"

"Right. That's fair." Cyborg felt bad, but the whole thing was a little hilarious to him, and he couldn't completely fight back a smile. "Hey maybe she'll be flattered and reject you nicely."

"Jeez, thanks." Garfield said sarcastically. It was his turn to pace and Victor's turn to sit down. "This is the worst pep talk ever. You're a terrible friend, you know that?"

"C'mon green bean, I'm just messing with you." Cyborg chuckled. "Although you do know she'll definitely, a hundred percent reject you, right?"

Beast Boy stopped moving. Of course he knew. But hearing it from someone else still hurt. "You think she's completely out of my league, don't you?"

"Well…I mean, in a way, but…honestly I kinda think she's out of everyone's league."

"Yeah…I know." Garfield sighed.

"I just don't want you to get hurt again. And this crush seems like a catastrophic recipe for heartbreak."

"Oh I'm very aware. Trust me. I just, I've been trying to shake it off, but..."

Suddenly Beast Boy froze, and Cyborg soon understood why.

Raven floated in quietly. He raised an eyebrow at them. "Am I interrupting something?"

"What? No way." Beast Boy was trying to sound as cool as he could, but he could tell she was suspicious. "Well I need to go cause I have stuff to do, so…bye!" He suddenly turned into a falcon to get away as fast as he could.

Raven stared after him and sighed. "Do you know what I did?"

"What do you mean?" Cyborg asked.

"I mean, clearly I did something to make him uncomfortable around me. I think he's scared of me again. The demon stuff still freaks him out, but I don't remember what I did…"

Cyborg gulped, but he smiled a little. For someone so smart she's kinda clueless. "I don't think he's mad at you." He dismissed her concerns. "It's Beast Boy, he's weird. Don't worry about it."

"But I am worried, Cyborg. I wish he'd just tell me. Then we could address it and be done with it."

She sounded genuinely upset and Cyborg felt bad.

"Just give him time, Rae. He'll tell you when he's ready."

Raven let out another frustrated sigh. "Yeah…maybe."

A few days later, Raven had had it. She had given him time. Now he'd been like this for over a week. Enough was enough. So, when he rushed past her and she accidentally spilled some tea on him and he wouldn't let her help him clean up – no, actually he wouldn't let her touch him; as in he actually dodged her– she decided to confront him.

"Okay, can you just tell me what's wrong already?" Raven's face was blank but her voice showed her frustration.

Beast Boy looked up at her with wide eyes. Every other Titan was in the room with them. She could not have chosen a worse time.

"W-what do you mean?" He looked around as if hoping some villain would suddenly barge in and save him by attacking them.

"I mean, what's your problem with me lately? You've been…really weird around me."

"What do you mean…?" Garfield repeated lamely while he tried to think of what to say.

"Well, you go from borderline needy to avoiding me entirely, and when you can't avoid me you get all nervous. And apparently now I can't even touch you without making you all…jumpy. I don't know if you're mad at me or scared of me or what but just tell me already."

Beast Boy straightened up. Everyone else was holding their breath. There was no animosity on Raven's tone and she sounded as calm as ever, but she was demanding an explanation and he couldn't give her one. He felt like a coward, but he couldn't even look her in the eyes. If he looked into her soulful amethyst eyes she would see right through him. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her so much. Even if – or most likely when – she did reject him, at least this torture would be over and they'd have a shot at being friends again. He missed her so much. But he couldn't do it in front of everyone.

"Look…can we talk about this later?" Or never?

Raven stared at him in utter disappointment. "…whatever, Beast Boy."

And then she teleported out of there.

"You have been weird around her, you know." Robin spoke first. He was mostly confused about the whole thing.

Starfire seemed more suspicious, looking at Beast Boy with narrowed eyes. She opened her mouth to say something and…the trouble alarm went off.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Garfield muttered under his breath. Where were the bad guys two minutes ago?

Richard Grayson sent the location to Raven and told her to meet them there. "Titans, Go!"

It was Klarion again. With no backup. Just him. Looking absolutely smug.

"Do you have a death wish or something?" Robin was surprised. Klarion was powerful, but Raven could definitely take him and there were five against one.

But then he just smiled wickedly and explained to them how he could easily fire several cleverly placed bombs around Jump City with a flick of his fingers. After seeing proof, Robin became a lot more concerned.

"What do you want?" The Titan leader asked through gritted teeth.

Then the Witch Boy just stared hungrily and unapologetically at Raven. Beast Boy's muscles responded immediately by tensing up. Raven unfolded her arms and a look of surprise crossed her face, but it was gone as fast as it came.

The empath frowned. He had made some very forward comments on her appearance last time they fought him. She had made him pay for it. Apparently not enough. "And what exactly do you want from me, creep?"

"You are going to let me put these on you." He said to Raven while showing a pair of dark-grey bracelets.

Raven stared at him blankly. She could sense the bracelets emanated dark magic.

"What kind of weird scheme is this, dude?" Cyborg wasn't sure why yet, but Klarion was making him feel very uncomfortable. He wasn't the only one.

"It's cursed, isn't it? Where did you find those?" The empath asked the Witch Boy.

Raven sounded calm but her friends knew her well enough to detect a hint of worry.

"Oh it was made specially for you, sweetheart. I mean, it works on your whole bloodline, but you were my motivation, obviously. You inherited a lot of Trigon's powerful enemies by defeating him, you know? It's amazing how many demons are afraid of you. And what they would do to keep you in line. I just had to find the right connections."

Beast Boy looked at Raven and realized she was tense. Why is she tense? What is he talking about? "Will anyone just say what's going on!?" He demanded.

Garfield's blood was boiling from the way this guy was talking to her and staring at her and he was way too frustrated to listen to some long villainous speech.

"It'll take my powers away." Raven spoke up and everyone stared at her in shock.

"All of it? Is that possible?" Robin asked urgently. Raven had a wide range of powers. He needed to know exactly what she meant.

"I think so. I'll basically be human." She said, tilting her head and sensing the energy from the magical artefacts. Someone very powerful had assisted him with those.

"Only until you're all mine." Klarion gave her another malicious smile. "Then I'll let you get your powers back."

Raven's face distorted in disgust. Beast Boy started turning into a T-Rex but had to stop when Klarion motioned to his fingers to remind him of the bombs. Garfield felt despair rise in his chest.

"Once I take you with me I'll tell Birdie Boy there where every single bomb is. My goal here isn't to kill random mortals. But I definitely will if you make me."

"He's lying." Robin felt so angry his vision was a little blurry. Think, Robin.

"No, he's not." Raven could tell. He meant for her to be able to read him when he said it, so it was easy.

She started walking towards him, but Starfire got in front of her.

"Don't even think about it." The Tamaranean said adamantly.

"Yeah Rae you're not going with this guy." Cyborg was desperately trying to locate the bombs with his sensors already, but it wasn't working so far.

"And what? Let him kill a bunch of innocent people? Because he will. He's a psycho." The empath said in a slightly troubled voice.

"Yes, I am." Klarion smirked. "That's why we'll be perfect together. You'll see. I'll make you see. With you by my side…we'll be unstopab-"

"Oh shut up." Robin remembered the time he worked for Slade because he could kill his friends with a flick of his fingers. That had been so traumatic he still sometimes found himself thinking about it. But this seemed even...creepier.

"I don't want to go with him." Raven stared into Starfire's eyes. "Just…find a way to rescue me, please." She whispered the last part and then walked past her.

Beast Boy had been frozen in place the entire time, mostly because he was focusing on not doing anything stupid. Rage and irrational jealousy were making him breathe heavily.

Raven stared at the Witch Boy defiantly as he fastened the cursed artefacts around her wrists and then she frowned at the weird sensation of losing such a huge and important part of her. There was a time she would have loved to know something like this existed. She always thought of her own powers as a curse. It wasn't all from Trigon, some of it was hers, like the healing magic. But still, she would have loved to be free. Keeping her emotions in check all the time was exhausting. But this wasn't freedom. She wanted to not have to hold back and fear herself every second of her existence, not this. Now she just felt…incomplete. "Who made these?" She whispered.

Klarion didn't answer. He disappeared with her in a giant dust cloud, leaving behind a map with the locations of the bombs.

"We're gonna find her." Cyborg was worried about Beast Boy's silence and tense stance.

"I know." Garfield said in a low, serious voice. It had been a long time since that beast broke loose and fought Adonis, but he recognized the sensation – though it seemed way more dangerous now. He needed to keep calm or he would just be another problem for his friends to handle.

Back in Klarion's lair he had her handcuffed with her arms above her head.

Raven rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. "Is this supposed to make me like you?"

"Eventually." The warlock smirked. "I'm patient. I'll just wait for Stockholm Syndrom to kick in."

"Good luck with that. I think I'll starve first."

"I'll force-feed you."

"Charming." She sighed. "No torture?"

"Not 'till you beg for it."

"Gross. And I never beg."

It took Robin and Cyborg a few hours to find out where Raven was after they deactivated all the bombs. They had to call in a favor from Jinx, but obviously anything was valid.

"What do you think he's gonna do to her?" Beast Boy asked quietly.

He was on the roof with Starfire. They weren't as helpful with the investigation part. Garfield hugged his knees to his chest.

"I think he's got too much of the confidence and does not believe we will find her. So whatever it is, I think he is planning to take his time – which is good for us." Koriand'r gave him a reassuring smile.

"Titans!"

Beast Boy and Starfire jumped at the voice of their leader, more than ready to kick some goth warlock ass.

"Let's go get our friend back." Robin said confidently.

Garfield wanted to kill Klarion, but he needed to save Raven. So he turned into a mouse and looked for her while the others fought the warlock. Raven was counting her traumas in her mind for the tenth time when she saw the green mouse sneaking in.

"Beast Boy. Great." The empath said, her voice dripping sarcasm.

Garfield turned human again and frowned. It may be petty but he expected her to sound more grateful. He tried to ignore the fact that she was bound and helpless before his body reacted to that in rather embarrassing ways, but he did blush a little. Her cape was gone and with her arms above her head like that he'd never seen her body more exposed. Beast Boy swallowed and shook such thoughts out of his head.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" He asked her urgently.

She wasn't thrilled about this rescue. She was still upset with him and if Raven was being completely honest, she was more hurt by him dodging her touch earlier than by any of this tacky Klarion situation.

"Ah, I'm fine." The sorcerer shrugged. "He didn't do anything. I think he thought if he kept me here long enough he'd grow on me."

Beast Boy studied her. She didn't look embarrassed. She didn't even look uncomfortable. She just looked bored. But she was definitely avoiding meeting his eyes.

"Are you mad at me or something?"

Raven just glared at him in response.

"What did I do? I'm rescuing you!"

"Ugh, fine. Whatever. Let's go then."

The shapeshifter narrowed his eyes at her. He adored her to death but she could be downright insufferable sometimes. Then his communicator rang. It was Robin.

"Beast Boy, Klarion is dealt with, he ran off. Have you found her?"

And then Garfield had a filthy, nasty, brilliantly terrible idea he would for sure regret later. But when would he ever get another chance like this? If there was ever a moment to tell Raven how he felt…sure, yes it was cowardly. Most people don't need their crush to be captive and powerless just to tell them how they feel, but this was the least intimidating version of her he would ever get. And they were alone. And she had to listen. And she couldn't kill him. But most importantly, she couldn't sense his emotions, so he could explain it on his own terms.

"No not yet I'll need more time." He blurted out as fast as he could and quickly shut down his communicator. Then Garfield turned around to look at Raven who ironically was shooting him a very intimidating stare. "Well." He cleared his throat. "Since I have your attention…"

"What are you doing?" Her voice was low and demanding. Raven was not amused.

"I don't think you're in position to be making demands here." Beast Boy said smugly and braced himself for her wrath.

All he got was her contempt.

"Not you too." Raven rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly. "Fine, so now what?"

"Now what, what?" Beast Boy was a little confused.

"Well, you haven't freed me for a reason, so I assume you have some long term evil plan for this moment. Since you have me like this already, you might as well do it and stop wasting our time. What is it? Tickle torture? A muzzle? Pictures?"

Garfield blinked blankly at her and turned red. She sounded so confident no one would know she was bound.

"Look, if you're just going to stand there and stare at me it's creepy. Do something or let me go." Raven demanded.

"How are you still this arrogant?!" Beast Boy exploded. "I mean, you're…how aren't you more embarrassed or…or worried or something!?"

"Why should I be…wait." She bit her lip to hold back laughter. "Is this some lame attempt to humble me?" Raven asked mockingly.

Beast Boy stared at her in utter disbelief. This is not how he imagined this would go. She was still too intimidating. How do you tell a girl like that you like her?

"You know what, maybe a muzzle is a nice idea." Garfield started looking around for something to gag her with so he could tell her he was attracted to her. And he did realize how stupid that was.

"Sure." She shrugged nonchalantly. And then Raven lowered her voice to a dangerous, menacing tone. "Just remember you'll have to let me go eventually and I could be nicer or meaner when you do." She went back to her nicer, non-threatening tone. "But hey, it's your moment. Enjoy it."

Beast Boy stopped dead in his tracks. Right. Duh. Obviously there would be payback later. That's why she was so calm. He regretted going this far.

Garfield took a deep breath and faced her. "Okay listen, I need to talk to you about something. That's why I didn't free you yet."

"Mm I see." She raised an eyebrow. "I need to be bound to the ceiling for you to talk to me about something?"

Ugh. Why is she so difficult!? "Well, yes, actually, because you're kind of really mean."

Raven leaned her head backwards, rolling her eyes and making a frustrated, tired sound.

"See!? Will you please just listen?" Garfield raised his voice slightly.

She straightened up to look at him and sighed. Better to get this over with fast. "Fine. What is it you need to say to me?" Hopefully it will be some kind of explanation for his behavior lately.

Well, shit. Okay. Let's do this. "Well. You see, I...well, I…the thing is…" Garfield tripped over his words and stared at the floor. "Lately I've been having these…" Feelings. The word is feelings.

But then he looked up at her and he was tongue-tied, all his courage deserting him in a second.

Let's try again. "Well, I just, you know, I've known you a long time, right?" Beast Boy said awkwardly. "And I…you know what actually I need a bit more time cause I just don't exactly know how to say it so just give a few minutes to-"

"No."

Raven had had enough. She had entertained whatever this was long enough. She was livid now. "You ignore me all week and act like I'm radioactive offering no explanation, then you make a lame attempt to humble me and call me arrogant, and now I'm supposed to wait here until you write an essay on whatever lame thing you need to say? I don't want to know anymore. My arms are aching. Let me go." She started pulling on her restraints. "Now."

Beast Boy had been shamefully staring at her wide-eyed through her outburst, but now he was waving his hands in front of his body desperately. "Wait, wait, don't do that."

"Why not?" Raven asked angrily and continued to squirm. It was pointless, she couldn't free herself, but she wanted to express how impatient she was.

Because it's so fucking hot. He tried not to think it, he really did. But she kept writhing desperately and letting out small and breathy frustrated sounds and it was the only time he ever felt he had any power over her. And then suddenly she froze. She stopped moving and making sounds at all, and he closed his eyes bracing himself because he knew exactly why.

"Is that a…" Raven was absolutely mortified. If his goal was to embarrass her, this had been a huge success.

Beast Boy bit his lip and covered his crotch with his hands. He definitely had an erection and his uniform wasn't doing him any favors. "It's not what you think. Excuse me." He ran out leaving a very flushed and very confused Raven behind.

After several minutes Garfield came back silently looking down and quickly freed an equally silent and embarrassed Raven. It was the most awkward either of them had ever felt around each other. She rolled her shoulders back, looking absolutely furious.

"That…I'm sorry." Beast Boy broke the silence. "I uh…that's not how I wanted that to go."

"I'm sure." Raven still couldn't meet his eyes. "Can you take these off? I obviously can't do it myself."

Garfield realized she meant the power-blocking bracelets. That's right, she still can't read my emotions. He rubbed the back of his neck coyly. "Sure, yeah, but you should know…as soon as I do, you'll know what I was trying to tell you. It's why I've been avoiding you. You're gonna know because it has to do with how I feel and…well I was trying to tell you but that did not work. So…just please don't freak out. Okay?"

She finally looked at him. Raven frowned and tried to figure out what he could possibly be talking about. Finally she just nodded and stretched out her arms cautiously. The empath suddenly felt a little apprehensive to find out what his problem with her was. Surely it isn't something I can't fix, right? "Okay."

Beast Boy sighed in defeat and decided to get it over with. If anything, he owed her at least some honesty. Especially after what he'd just put her through. Maybe she wouldn't kill him. Maybe she'd just feel sorry for him. He removed the bracelets and allowed himself to look at her. He focused on his feelings. On how wonderful she was. On how insufferably witty and confident. On how immensely kind and generous she could be. On how smooth her skin was and how nice her hair smelled. On the hypnotizing trap of her deep eyes. He was trapped in them at the moment actually, and he knew he wouldn't get out until she released him.

Raven felt a rush of emotions hit her as soon as she had her powers back. They were all coming from the green boy in front of her. He was staring into her eyes intently so she stared back at him. It felt nice after being ignored for over a week. But the emotions emanating from him were…well, there was affection. Surely she could expect affection; they were close. But this felt different. She sensed…longing. Yearning. Desire. Lust. She gasped.

"...oh." The sorcerer whispered with wide, shocked eyes. This time they stayed wide for a while, and then they were full of worry and regret. "Beast Boy…"

Garfield braced himself for getting his heart broken again.

"Where have you two been!?" Robin's clear voice asked as he turned the corner and found them.

It was only a second before Starfire suddenly enveloped Raven in a tight embrace. "Oh friend Raven I was so worried!"

"Hi Star, I'm fine…but…ugh." She was running out of air because of her best friend's strength.

"Ops, sorry." Kory let go of her and chuckled sheepishly.

Robin was still raising an eyebrow at Beast Boy, who shrank under his gaze.

Later, as they were getting home, the leader pulled the shapeshifter aside. "What took you so long?"

"I took a wrong turn. My bad." Garfield turned into a rabbit and hopped away hurriedly.

Beast Boy walked inside his room and collapsed on his bed, allowing anxiety and doubt to creep in. She knows. And she isn't here. If she had anything to say, surely she would come find me, right? She disappeared as soon as we got home. She doesn't want to see me. She probably hates me. He thought of that night they stayed up to play video games and he felt like crying. Now she would be too uncomfortable around him for them to have another moment like that. Damn her empathic abilities. If it wasn't for those, he could have loved her – woah wait, he meant liked her – secretly in peace for the rest of their days. What was she gonna say? She looked sad. She was going to let me down easy for sure...

Beast Boy jumped to his feet. He had fallen asleep at some point and woke up to someone knocking on his door. He smelled lavender. Raven. He quickly checked himself in the mirror to fix his messy hair. It didn't do much. He tried to suffocate the twinge of hope that was attempting to grow in his gut. She knocked again. Let's play it cool, please.

Garfield answered his door with an awkward smile. "Hey, Rae." Then he remembered her saying he could only call her that when he earned it and corrected himself. "I mean, Raven."

She offered him a sympathetic look. It instantly made him feel better.

"Sorry I didn't come sooner. I needed to meditate. For obvious reasons."

Right, of course she had to meditate. I should have thought of that. "Wait, what time is it?"

"Four in the morning…" Raven was a little embarrassed. "Obviously if you would rather talk tomorrow…"

"No! I wanna talk." Thank God she came.

Beast Boy realized Raven didn't go to sleep. She had been meditating and came right after to talk to him. That was considerate of her. She probably knew he'd be anxious about this conversation. Also it was impossible to be alone at breakfast so they wouldn't have any privacy in the morning. Thinking about that gesture warmed his heart a little. He opened his door wider and she walked inside.

"So, Garfield…" She was struggling to find the right words too. "I understand why you've been acting weird now..."

"Because I like you." He dropped his shoulders. "I'm sorry, I tried not to; I really did. I blame Starfire entirely for this. It all started with that stupid dress."

Raven fought back a smile. She thought he was kind of cute when he acted like this. Wait, what? Get it together, Raven. She cleared her throat. "That doesn't matter. Listen, I admit it was a bit of a shock. But it's not a big deal."

Garfield stopped his pacing back and forth and turned his head to look at her questioningly. "It's not?"

"It doesn't have to be."

Her tone was calm and soothing. He could tell she was afraid to hurt him and he was kind of grateful for it. After everything that happened with Terra, he appreciated Raven trying to soften the blow.

"It doesn't?" Garfield was confused, but he was starting to feel better. This was going smoother than he thought.

"No." Raven shrugged. "I mean, you just have a…a little crush on me." She looked away as they both blushed. "It's not a big deal, it's just a crush. And it's probably because your brain is trying to get over Terra, and Starfire and I are the only women around you and she's with Dick, so..."

Beast Boy frowned as he allowed her words to sink in. Was that all it was? Was she right? Usually, she was right.

"It sort of makes sense. I mean, I would never see it coming, I admit, but it sort of makes sense." She continued.

"It does?" Beast Boy chuckled a little because he had no idea how any of it made sense.

"Mmhm…I mean, you have a…if not terrible, self-destructive taste in women. You want us to punish you with heartache because you don't like yourself." Raven said it as sweetly as she could. The words were harsh enough.

"Hey! I do not!" He practically whined.

The sorcerer bit her lip to fight back a smile. "I'm not siding with your anxiety. I think you hate yourself much more than you should. I'm just saying if you don't feel like you deserve to be happy, you'll keep going for people who will certainly reject you." She took a deep breath. "I mean, you know I have to…right? I just can't. It's not even about you. It's just…it's not an option at all for me. I can't. My powers…"

There it is. He'd seen this coming, but it still hurt. Of course she would reject him. But she was being really nice about it and what she was saying made a lot of sense. He nodded to let her know he knew she couldn't reciprocate.

"So, that's all it is. A self-punishing distraction. It doesn't mean you actually like me like that. It will wear down in time. I'm not worried." Raven said confidently, trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince him.

"That does sound logical…"

"It's the only logical explanation."

He thought about it. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable way out of whatever anomaly this was. Of course that's all it was. He should have talked to her from the start. She was smart; of course she would figure this out.

Beast Boy exhaled all the anxiety out and smiled at her. "You're probably right."

"I usually am." Raven was relieved to see him smile. "And now that I know, you don't need to avoid me anymore. We can go back to being friends. I'm aware of this now and I won't hold it against you." And then she glared at him slightly. "Just never try to humble me again."

"Oh…sorry about that." He chuckled apologetically and then his face flushed deeply. "And I'm sorry about…you know."

Raven's cheeks flushed too and she frowned. Right. That. "Let's just never mention that again."

"Deal." Garfield quickly agreed. "Anyway…I'd love to go back to being friends! I miss it, I really do." His eyes were bright and childish when he grinned at her.

"Me too." She nodded.

"Hey Rae?" He wanted to check if he could call her that again.

"Yes?"

Beast Boy's stomach fluttered when he realized the nickname was still a go. "Do you really think I hate myself more than I should?"

"I never say anything I don't mean. I don't think you should hate yourself at all. You're a good person. You deserve a healthy, good relationship. One day you'll believe that too."

He smiled, but it was a little sad. I don't want a healthy, good relationship. I want a Raven. "But you do too. Maybe one day you will. You know, with someone who is your type."

"I wasn't aware I had a type." She raised an eyebrow playfully.

"I mean, I imagine…but I dunno." Garfield shrugged and chuckled. He didn't know what her type was; he just knew it wasn't him.

"Beast Boy." Raven rolled her eyes. "There's not a single drop of romance in my blood. I'm not like you. It's not this huge sacrifice to go without it for me." She wasn't lying; she really did not care about romance. "Anyway, Robin will be up soon and I should get some sleep if I still can."

The shapeshifter's heart sank a little. He wanted her to stay. He was missing her after all that time keeping his distance. But she was right. "Yeah. 'Night Rae. And thanks. You know, for being cool about it."

"'Night Gar."

Beast Boy slept peacefully that night. And Raven showed up in his dreams again. They really did think things would go back to normal. And in a way they kind of did. On the days that followed, they started spending time together again. Raven would eventually get hit by a wave of desire emanating from him and get all awkward, excuse herself and come back several minutes later as if nothing happened. Beast Boy started teasing her again, but it was different. It got a bit…flirty. Raven constantly shut him down nicely but he couldn't stop himself from being inappropriate towards her. Raven on the other hand was having a hard time repressing how endearing she found the whole thing and how much she enjoyed his attention. Robin and Starfire were both suspicious something was up, but this time Starfire was closer to the truth. But she didn't want to ask. She wanted Raven to tell her willingly. Cyborg had been filled in by Beast Boy on his and Raven's mutual understanding on the matter.

"Hey, dude?" Cyborg couldn't help it if video games were just such a great time to catch up.

"Yeah?" Garfield didn't remove his gaze from the game.

"How's your crush on Raven going?"

Beast Boy knew this was coming. And if he was being honest, he did want – or rather need – to talk about it. "It's…still going."

"Damn."

"Yeah. I'm a little worried to be honest."

"How come? I thought she told you not to worry cause it isn't a big deal?"

"Yeah, but I think this might be one of those rare occasions where she's wrong." Garfield shrank slightly on the couch.

"Really?" Cyborg tried to act indifferent.

"Look, she can't know about this, okay? I want her to continue thinking it's no big deal."

"Yeah obviously, you don't want things to get awkward."

"Exactly." The shapeshifter nodded. "So, the thing is…it's one thing to be attracted to someone. And it's another thing to love who they are. Right?"

"Right." Victor wasn't sure where his friend was going with all this sudden insightfulness.

"So, here's my problem. I already kinda loved who she is. I mean, I already adored her. There are things I already felt. She already meant a lot to me. Right? I mean, I really admire her. I think she's the bravest person I know and that's saying a lot. I think she's the smartest person I know too. I think she's equally good at being kind and being tough because I realized even if her words can't be sweet or her face warm all the time, her actions speak for themselves. And I think she deserves to be happy and I want to be part of that. I want to make her laugh and make sure she doesn't get hurt again. I already felt those things as her friend."

Cyborg just nodded in silent understanding.

"The thing is…now that I'm attracted to her…it's not just the shallow stuff. It's like, everything I saw before and the things I already felt are…enhanced." Beast Boy concluded.

"Oh."

"Yeah, so…if I'm being honest, I don't think I'm attracted to her because she's unattainable. It was a good theory and all, but I think I just really, really, like her. I like who she is. And now everything she is and does seems attractive to me. You know? From her sarcastic remarks to the way she tucks her hair behind her ear to read. Even the sharp edges, the stubbornness, the coldness…I'm finding it kinda charming." He finally beat his cybernetic friend on the game – probably because Cyborg was too distracted to even try anymore – and put the controller down.

"Wow. You've got it bad." Victor Stone turned to face his friend worriedly.

"Don't tell her."

"Dude, obviously I'm not going to…"

"I'm serious. The only thing keeping her cool about this is thinking it's just a temporary crush."

"Yeah, yeah I got it. I won't tell Raven you're like, in love with her."

"Hey! I didn't say that!" Beast Boy exclaimed in outrage.

"Didn't you?" Cyborg raised an eyebrow. When Garfield just shot him a pitiful look, he frowned. "Seriously though…what are you gonna do about this?"

"Probably date someone else? Maybe that helps. I don't know. For now I'm just glad she didn't kill me."

"Yeah but maybe Raven was the least of your concerns. Just wait until Trigon finds out. He will kill you for sure if he ever gets the chance." It was a joke, but it made Beast Boy's skin turn a very pale shade of green, which made Cyborg laugh. "Hey don't look at me like that, it's not my fault you went and fell for the half-demon."

Beast Boy collapsed on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "I'm doomed, ain't I?"

"Yup."

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (The Police)