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A cloaked girl idly sat on the grey sofa positioned in the middle of the room, a black-bound tome balanced in one delicate, pale hand while her intense violet orbs roved the thin, off-white colored pages. A small, green kitten laid curled in the girl's lap, purring deeply as her slender fingers gently stroked through his soft fur.
The common room of Titans Tower was unusually peaceful, free from the boisterous cacophony that usually pooled within. It was the type of wonderful silence that is usually unacknowledged or thought of as awkward, but two of the Tower's residents were taking advantage of the under-appreciated gift that had been bestowed upon them.
The hooded girl continued to pet the kitten, her focused gaze still on her lengthy volume. Her narrow digits slowly traced their way up the green creature's back and scratched behind his furry ears, causing him to shiver and purr his content. The cat languidly opened his bright, emerald eyes and nudged his head against the girl's hand, forcing her to draw her orbs away from the novel that had been previously consuming all of her attention. As her lavender eyes shifted focus, they met the large, shining orbs of the kitten and a sigh broke passed the girl's lips. She carefully lifted the cat so that his tiny face was level with hers and rubbed her nose against the velvety, wet one of the green-furred animal. After a minute, the girl pulled back and the kitten let out an adorable sneeze, his chartreuse eyes squeezing shut and tiny features scrunching together. The girl let a minuscule smile grace her features before placing the cat down on the fabric cushions beside her. With a cartoonish 'pop' the feline vanished and was replaced with the lanky frame of a teenaged boy.
The cloaked female turned towards the boy now seated next to her and gave him a sly smirk.
"You sneeze like a kitten, Gar."
Beast Boy scooted closer to the violet-eyed girl next to him and laid his head on her cloaked shoulder. The girl rested her head on top of his and allowed her purple eyes to slowly fall closed. After a moment of silence, the boy hummed and lifted his head.
"I'm bored, Rae."
Raven lifted her head from her boyfriend's and met his imploring gaze. From the way he was looking at her, she knew there was to be a significant amount of pleading on his end. What he was pleading for, Raven hadn't the slightest clue, but it was bound to be good coming from Beast Boy, the infamous master of 'the face'.
His large, deep green eyes bored into her very soul as her own amethyst ones met them and the trembling of his lower lip was just short of making her cave in, but what really did it was the way he ever so slightly cocked his head to the side, feigning the desperation and sadness of a lost puppy. Even in human form, Beast Boy succeeded to move most of his teammates with 'the face', save for Robin, and was steadily boosting his rank as the master manipulator in the Tower. Contrary to popular belief, Raven was perhaps the most susceptible to her boyfriend's begging and rarely shook her head at one of his requests. He really had been becoming much more skilled in the shameful art since the empath had met him four long years ago.
Raven tried with everything she had not to give in, but her willpower quickly crumbled when Beast Boy made a small, animalistic keening noise in the back of his throat. Raven's stoney, protestant facade fell from her face and she leaned forward to give Beast Boy a small, chaste peck before falling back against the grey cushions of the couch with a sigh of defeat.
"What do you want, you annoying yet adorable pest?"
Beast Boy chuckled at his girlfriend's abashed tone; she hated when she gave into 'the face' (but he always knew that he would have it as a secret weapon). He casually rested one of his arms across the back of the couch, gloved fingertips brushing Raven's shoulder.
"I'm bored, Rae," he repeated, a groan lacing the words.
Raven just rolled her violet eyes and said, "Why don't you go outside and play in the snow with the others?"
That was why the Tower had been so pleasantly quiet. It was nearing the middle of December and a sprinkling of fluffy, white snow had settled gracefully over the city and formed a thick blanket around the large T-shaped tower. As per tradition, the Tower's resident alien princess had insisted the team go out and play in the 'glorious frozen water flakes,' as they did every year. This time however, Beast Boy and Raven had politely declined the anxious Starfire's offer, the couple instead opting to stay inside where it was cozy and dry.
Beast Boy snuggled into Raven's side, mumbling his answer regarding her question into a cloaked shoulder.
"Too cold."
He pulled the dark blue fabric of the cloak away from his girlfriend's shoulder, beginning to place small kisses on her neck where it was exposed above the collar of her black leotard. She had returned to her thick book moments earlier, but her lavender eyes no longer roved the ancient pages with such a distraction consuming most of her attention.
Eventually she gave up and locked eyes with her vexatious boyfriend.
"Beast Boy, stop it."
"But Rae, I'm-"
Raven gave the verdant teenager a murderous look.
"Gar, I swear, if you tell me you are bored again I will send you to another dimension."
Beast Boy looked ready to interject.
"Even if you are- Dear Azar, do I say it?- my boyfriend."
Garfield shot her a toothy grin while a light blush tinged the empath's pale cheeks.
"You know it, babe." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
Ever since they had started dating, (around the time of Raven's seventeenth birthday) Raven had been very reluctant to admit out loud that the pointy-eared, jade-skinned, joke-telling boy that had annoyed her for so long had finally managed to break away the icy shell around her heart and had earned the title of her boyfriend. It was a rare occurrence that the changeling of her affections ever evoked the half-demon to say the words out loud. Every time she did, it was cause for celebration.
"Gar, go away," the dark girl sighed. "You were much more quiet as a cat," she mumbled as an afterthought.
Beast Boy picked it up with his sensitive pointed ears.
"Aww, come on Rae, you don't mean that." The jade teenager once again rested his head upon the cloaked beauty's shoulder.
Raven gave a long huff of annoyance.
"Fine Beast Boy, now that you have successfully stolen my attention, what do you want?" She closed her eyes and brought a hand up to the red gemstone upon her forehead, hoping to alleviate some of the unintended anger from her tone.
This did not faze the over-eager changeling. He quickly got down on his knees in front of his girlfriend, doing his best impression of 'the face'.
Raven tried very hard to keep herself from submitting, but her efforts were futile. Finally she just nodded.
"Fine Gar, I'll go out in the snow with you."
Beast Boy looked shocked for a minute, then shook his head.
"Raven, it's too cold."
The empath simply ignored him, gracefully standing from the couch and making her way towards her room. Halfway down the hall, she turned back towards her boyfriend.
"Well, are you coming or not?"
Clearly having lost the argument, and outwitted by his superiorly intelligent girlfriend, the changeling followed the empath into the hall to change into his winter garb. There was no way he was going out into the snow as a polar bear. He couldn't pass up the deviously fun opportunity to throw snowballs at his half-robot best friend.
Once inside the messy disaster he called a room, Beast Boy walked to his closet and tried to pull aside the jammed sliding door. Unfortunately, something seemed to be stuck in the track, preventing it from moving properly. The green teenager tugged furiously at the door for several minutes to no avail. Eventually, frustrated with his futile attempts, Beast Boy transformed into a gorilla and forced the door aside with his added strength. Immediately, a mountainous pile of dirty laundry began to sway, tumbling to the floor in a wave of smelly socks and soiled uniforms. With a squeak of surprise, the now human Beast Boy scrambled out of the way of the toppling pile.
Once the clothes had mostly settled (aside from a mysterious pair of shorts that seemed to continue moving), the changeling stumbled to the back of his closet where he kept his winter uniforms. He retrieved and put on the thick, black long-sleeved shirt and pants and then put on the sleeveless purple jacket over the top. He switched his regular gloves out for thicker nylon ones and his typical high tops for longer ones that reached to his mid-calf. To finish it all off, he placed the fur hat that he had received from Starfire in Russia atop his green-haired head.
Stopping by his mirror to assure himself that he hadn't missed anything, Beast Boy trooped back to the common room to meet his girlfriend. When he arrived, Raven only shook her head.
"And I thought Starfire took a long time to get ready," she remarked.
Beast Boy simply rolled his eyes and stomped over to the elevator that would take him to the ground level of the Tower. Raven joined him, wearing her own fur-lined winter cloak and accompanying winter garments. From one of her slender, pale hands hung a pair of elegant white and sapphire ice skates. Beast Boy immediately took notice.
"Rae, I didn't know you could skate," the changeling commented, hoping to earn an explanation from his somewhat withdrawn girlfriend.
It was obvious that the empath was blushing because she had discreetly drawn up the hood of her cloak after being asked the question. Even around someone as close to her as Beast Boy, old habits died hard.
The green teenager placed a hand on the dark girl's shoulder before spinning her towards him. The hand crept up to remove the hood from the lilac-haired head, as the empath's violet eyes burned a hole in the floor. Her cheeks were flaming with embarrassment, a deep carmine.
"I. . . I taught myself. In-in Azarath," the girl stuttered. "These were a gift from my mother." Raven's thumb traced the edge of one skate's blade, sharpness rivaling a knife and finely polished so that it gleamed.
Beast Boy smiled and gave his girlfriend a quick kiss. Raven looked up at him, a soft and inquiring expression about her easily defined features.
"Gar, do you want to skate with me?"
The green boy blanched for a second before cleverly saying, "I uh, don't. . . have any ice skates."
Raven's demeanor dropped. Her face turned from the soft smile that she reserved only for her boyfriend to crestfallen, her shoulders slumping with disappointment. This change immediately made Beast Boy guilty. Sure, he hadn't lied, he really did not own a pair of skates, however even if he did, that had not been the reason he'd turned down his girlfriend's kind offer. In reality, the verdant changeling didn't know how to skate. For the earlier years of his life, when most American children learned simple, everyday tasks, such as riding a bike, reading or ice skating for example, Beast Boy had been living in Africa, where ice was scarce, books were practically unheard of and bicycles were very hard to come by.
The shapeshifter tried to cheer his dispirited girlfriend up. He placed a hand on her cloaked shoulder and gave her one of the dazzling smiles he knew made her knees buckle. "It's okay Rae, I can still watch you," he said, giving her a quick kiss. "And I know you'll look beautiful out there on the ice."
The blushing empath gently pulled away from her boyfriend's embrace, dispirited attitude once again righted and a rare optimism even shining through her gemlike amethyst orbs. She truly treasured the winter months- times when people were drawn together and the world renewed itself. Christmas and New Years brought joy and happiness to families and friends and the exchange of heartfelt gifts and giddy celebration rekindled a hope buried deep down inside of the nearly emotionless mistress of magic every time they came about. The falling of the crystalline snowflakes reminded her of a beauty like no other, blanketing the frozen earth and welcoming the deep slumber of vulnerable creatures, shielding them from the harsh changes taking place around them. These changes reminded Raven of her own rebirth after the defeat of her wicked demon of a father. She had been given new hope and wisdom, the same as nature after each winter, when plants develop even more elegant and intoxicating blossoms and newly born animals emerge from their dens, even stronger and intelligent than the previous generation. Nature was constantly adapting, striving to maintain life in a world where humankind ruled, polluting and destroying as they progressed. Raven didn't think there was anything more hopeful than that.
As the tiny elevator finished its descent to the grand floor of the T-shaped tower, Beast Boy took the empath's small, cold hand within his larger, gloved fingers, giving it a gentle squeeze. She granted him a small, ghost of a smile, squeezing his hand back as she stepped out of the elevator car and into the looming entrance hall of the Tower. The couple followed the long, red carpet to the enormous steel doors that would grant them access to the frozen outside world.
As the large steel doors slid open, a chilly breeze blew inside, sending a shiver down the shapeshifter's spine. Raven suppressed a small giggle, feeling her boyfriend tremble because of the cold. Taking a deep breath in, the petite girl dragged the changeling out into the wintry wonderland that laid before them.
Upon seeing her friends' arrival, a jubilant Starfire flew over to greet the youngest Titans. The perky alien was dressed in barely anything compared to her companions, the short lavender skirt and crop top of her usual uniform exposing her midriff and long past-the-knee boots creating light footprints in the snow as she approached the couple. The only thing that suggested the alien knew it was winter were the fluffy blue earmuffs that adorned her head, no doubt courtesy of her boyfriend, who's own ears were hidden by the red beanie covering his black spikes.
"Hey Star," the shivering changeling greeted. Raven merely gave a wave.
"Hello friends! I am so glad that you have decided to join us for the fight of the snowballs. Boyfriend Richard has told me much about them and-"
Raven interrupted the overly-eager Tamaranian. "Starfire, we've had snowball fights before."
The alien princess' beautiful features molded into a mask of confusion. Her twinkling beryl eyes grew as she tilted her head in an inquiring way. Clasping her hands in front of herself, Starfire asked, "I do not remember. When have we had the fights of the snowballs?"
"First year we moved in." Raven smiled slightly as the nostalgia washed over her. "I'd have thought Garfield had never seen snow before."
Beast Boy turned a dark puce at his girlfriend's comment. "I hadn't," he muttered, seemingly ashamed.
Starfire let out a small giggle. "Oh yes! I do remember now. Beast Boy tried to create the man of snow, yes?"
Raven smirked. "If you mean that lumpy pile with the sticks and carrot poking out of it that sat in front of the Tower for a month."
Beast Boy's ears drooped. "I didn't have any practice," he mumbled under his breath. The warm puffs of air created a slight fog in front of his face.
Raven gave his gloved hand a squeeze with her own silk covered fingers. "I was only teasing."
Starfire gave another girlish giggle at her friends before bidding them farewell and flying off to find her own significant other.
The changeling continued mumbling as Raven led him over to the frozen bay just in front of them. It was under thirty-two degrees outside- enough to freeze the water in front of the Tower, creating a perfect private-access skating rink just for the Titans. Approaching the ice field, Raven found a flat rock nearby that had been saved from being covered in snow by the tall pine looming over it. The empath sat down, removing her boots and replacing them with the elegant sapphire ice skates.
Once the ice skates were laced and buckled tightly, Raven stood, taking caution not to slip and fall. Once her balance had been established, the sorceress pushed off the ice bank, cutting across the frozen pond; a swan gracefully gliding across the water.
Garfield watched her from the bank, smiling as his girlfriend performed a double axel, leaping and spinning twice in the air before coming back down and landing on one foot, gliding backwards gently. Raven made a loop around the pond before lining up for another jump, this time a triple lutz, which she landed perfectly. Using the momentum from the jump, Raven sent herself into a sit spin, one leg bent beneath her, the other stuck out in front to help her balance.
Gar's jaw dropped into the snow bank at his feet. Awe-inspiring didn't even begin to describe Raven's grace and agility on the ice. She was a goddess. She must have practiced for years to become that disciplined and skilled.
Off to the side, Robin watched the couple with a smirk on his face. In some ways, the two reminded him of himself and Starfire. They were so carefree and happy around one another. Ever since the verdant jokester and cold sorceress had gotten together, Raven had opened herself up and expressed more of her emotions, making for a better environment around the Tower. Beast Boy had changed as well, maturing and learning what it meant to respect others' boundaries- something that had always gotten him into trouble in the past. Robin knew that they were right for each other. He would hate to think of the emotional turmoil each would suffer if their relationship ever came to an end.
As Robin continued to watch, his own alien girlfriend came up behind him, wrapping her ivory arms around his torso and placing her chin upon his shoulder. Slowly, the Boy Wonder relaxed back against her, gripping her slender fingers in his own gloved hands.
"I should think that Raven would like Beast Boy to join her," Starfire whispered into her beloved's ear. She cast her beryl gaze towards the pond where the empath skated by, sending a longing look to her lover.
Robin sighed softly, following the alien's line of sight. He could see Beast Boy and the look of awe and love in his eyes as he watched the girl in the navy cloak perform her routine. He appeared as though he wished to join her, but did not know how or was afraid to step foot on the ice.
"You can lend him your ice skates," Starfire whispered into her boyfriend's ear. "You and Garfield are the same size, yes?"
Richard turned back towards his girlfriend, giving her a light peck on the lips. "You're a genious, Kori," he said. He gently pulled out of her grasp and began to jog back towards the Tower.
"I'll be right back," he called over his shoulder.
Five minutes later, the Boy Wonder returned, heading toward the bank of the pond and Garfield. A pair of red and black ice skates dangled from his gloved hand by the laces. As Robin approached the green teenager, he watched the changeling's right ear twitch slightly, hearing his boots crunch in the snow behind him.
"Hey Dick," the shapeshifter greeted.
Robin nodded, acknowledging the changeling as he came up alongside him.
The two boys watched as Raven performed a double axel and then transitioned into a triple toe in a combination of jumps. She glided past them on the turn around, a small smile gracing her features as she headed back towards the middle of the pond for a layback spin.
Robin turned towards Gar. "I brought these for you," the Boy Wonder said, offering the skates to the green teenager.
Beast Boy immediately shot him down. "It's okay. I don't really know how to skate." The verdant boy scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed.
Dick tried to hand him the skates again. "I thought Raven would like you to skate with her." The Boy Wonder's gaze drifted back towards the pale beauty as she executed another perfect spin.
Beast Boy shook his head, pushing his hands out to refuse the skates once more. "She does, but I told her I would just watch because I don't have my own skates."
Robin chuckled at the younger boy's stubbornness. "That's why I'm giving you these." He shoved the skates at Beast Boy, forcing the green teenager to take them.
"I still don't know how to skate," Gar protested.
Dick rolled his eyes. He grabbed Beast Boy by the hoodie attached to his purple jacket, dragging him over to the rock Raven had used to put on her skates. He shoved the animorph down into a sitting position and commanded him to put on the skates as he leaned against the rough trunk of the pine looming over them.
Once the skates were laced up, Beast Boy attempted to stand from the rock, flailing his arms to try to keep his balance on the thin blades. Almost immediately he slipped and fell, landing on his bottom and cursing due to the sting of the packed cold snow. Robin chuckled, offering a hand to his fallen comrade.
"You okay?" He asked, pulling the green boy to his feet.
"I'm fine," Beast Boy grunted, continuing to mumble curses under his breath. He quickly dusted the powdery white snow off of the back of his pants, still struggling to find his equilibrium.
Once his pants were free from the clinging frozen flakes, he focused on finding a semblance of balance- or as much as he could on the paper-thin blades. Desperately he reached out and grabbed a hold of Dick's jacket sleeve, clinging onto the older boy with a death-grip.
"Let me go Dick, and I'll kill you," Garfield managed to get out.
Robin laughed. "Relax Gar," he assured his friend, "It's not that hard once you've got the hang of it."
Carefully Robin managed to guide the wobbly animorph over the the edge of the pond without further mishap. Out on the ice, Raven was still performing her routine, executing professional spins, twists and leaps, leaving both boys awe-struck.
Beast Boy let go of a melancholy sigh. "She's so beautiful. Why would someone as gorgeous as Raven want to date a guy who looks like me?"
Dick raised an eyebrow at his younger teammate. Was the kid really that oblivious?
"I used to think the same thing about Kori," Robin said, "and when I asked her, she told me she loved me, and that that was all there was to it." The Boy Wonder gave Beast Boy a reassuring pat on the shoulder, causing the green boy to stumble a bit and glare. Ignoring him, Richard continued on. "Raven loves you as you are. Don't change and don't question it. Just keep being who you are now."
The green teenager nodded resolutely, his jade orbs continuing to follow the cloaked young woman out on the ice. He loved her more than he could put into words, and if she returned even a quarter of the love he had for her, he would be happy.
The triple lutz the Azarathian had just landed brought her close to the edge of the pond where both her boyfriend and one of her best friends were standing. Carefully reducing her speed, Raven slowly slid up to them, small white flakes of snow decorating her hair, and ice chips coating the hem of her cloak.
"Hey Raven," Dick greeted cheerfully. "Gar here was just telling me how much he wanted to go skating with you." He grabbed the green teenager by the hood on his magenta snow vest, dragging him forward, and would have caused him to fall flat on his face, had Raven not caught him.
Blinking at the close proximity of their faces, Raven carefully adjusted the distance between her and Garfield, taking care that neither one of them fell, now that they were both out on the ice. Over her boyfriend's shoulder, the empath could see the team's leader tromping back through the snow, likely to go find the Tower's resident alien. Slowly, her gaze swept back to her boyfriend's face.
"I thought you said you didn't own any ice skates?"
Garfield blushed red, and likely would have raised a hand to scratch at the back of his neck in embarrassment, had they not both been latched onto Raven's forearms to maintain his balance. "Dick lent his to me," he let out a nervous chuckle.
"I see," the sorceress returned. Believe it or not, she was actually more intelligent than Beast Boy took her for. She knew the real reason he had refused to skate with her was because he didn't know how; not necessarily because he didn't own his own skates. She had learned that little fact about her lover way back before they had even started dating.
About three years ago, the Teen Titans had helped the local roller-rink sort out some complications they'd been having with their lighting and sound equipment. Little did they know at the time they'd signed up for the job that Control Freak had been behind the whole act from the beginning. After chasing the television-addicted couch-potato around the ring a few times (Raven did not ever want to see the fat villain on skates again- trust her, once was enough), they had eventually managed to confiscate the remote he was using to control everything and shut him down. As a thank you from the owner of the rink, the Titans had been allotted some time to themselves to use the rink and games within to their hearts content. Everyone besides Beast Boy had rented roller skates and taken a few spins around the ring. Instead, the animorph had compiled Raven's game tokens and his own and spent the time playing all of the arcade games. When asked by any of his teammates to join them out on the ring, he had adamantly refused.
Looking at him now, shivering, desperately clinging to her for balance, Raven knew that he was scared. She loved him for being willing to try for her, even if Dick had been the one to (literally) give him the shove.
"Thank you for coming to skate with me," Raven told him. Slowly she began a movement backwards, keeping her light grip on Beast Boy's hands to pull him along behind her.
As they began gliding, the verdant teenager tightened his grip on the sorceress' wrists, bending his knees into a crouch to lower himself closer to the ground in case of a fall. He was very embarrassed to admit that he could feel the tremors going up and down his arms, and that Raven could likely feel them too, and that they were not caused by only the cold temperature outside.
"You can relax Gar," Raven told him, "I won't let you fall. I promise."
Hesitantly, the changeling attempted to stand up straight, yelping when one of his skates slipped out from under him, but like his girlfriend had promised, she did not let him fall, providing him support as he shakily righted himself. Once he was standing at his full height, the lilac-haired girl leant forward and gave him a warm kiss, continuing to slowly skate backwards, pulling him along.
She led him through a figure-eight and a couple of turns, smiling as he seemed to gain a little confidence. For his part, if Garfield just focused on his feet, he was able to maintain his balance for the most part. He watched as their skates cut trails into the ice, small frozen shards clinging to the metal blades and coating the hem of his girlfriend's navy cloak. He was actually starting to have fun, but he wasn't as advanced as his girlfriend. She was a goddess on the ice, and in comparison, Garfield barely would have even considered himself a novice. He knew he was holding her back from fully enjoying herself.
"Rae," he managed to look up at her face without losing his balance. "I'm sorry. I know that pulling me around like this isn't fun for you. You're so much more advanced; talented. I'm holding you back." He looked back down at his skates. Beast Boy could feel the heat coming off of his cheeks, at odds with the freezing temperature of the air around them. He was surprised there wasn't steam coming off his skin with how embarrassed he felt.
The sorceress let out a little laugh. "Gar, I didn't ask you to skate with me to show off, or so that you could try to impress me. I already knew when I asked you that you didn't know how to skate. I asked because I wanted to spend time with you."
Beast Boy looked up again, and found his beautiful girlfriend smiling back at him. Shyly, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug, and moaned slightly as she placed a heartfelt kiss on his lips. When they pulled away from one another, there was a smile on his lips too.
The two heroes stood holding one another on the ice for a few moments before the Azarathian felt her boyfriend trembling against her. She knew he hated being out in the cold. He'd grown up in Africa where the temperature never dipped below sixty degrees in the winter.
"You ready to head back inside, Gar?"
"Y-yeah," he managed through chattering teeth.
Raven carefully pulled him over to the bank of the pond and guided him over to a rock so that they could remove their skates. The rock was the same one both heroes had originally used to put on their ice skates, and Garfield shivered in the shade the looming pine cast over them. As soon as they both had their boots on, Beast Boy tugged Raven up by the hand and practically dragged her along to get inside and out of the frigid snow.
Once they were inside, Beast Boy sighed, shedding his sleeveless jacket and boots in the entry. He removed his ice-covered gloves and then ran his hands up and down his fleece-covered arms, trying to get some warmth into the numb limbs. He really needed to invest in a long-sleeved jacket rather than the vest he had now.
Raven laughed as she watched her boyfriend try to warm himself up. Carefully she removed her own boots and snow-covered cloak, appreciating the long-sleeved fleece top and leggings that she had worn underneath, rather than her usual leotard.
She began down the hallway, taking her snowy garments with her, intending to toss them in the laundry to be cleaned and dried. As she passed by Beast Boy, he ran to catch up and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together. He had his jacket, gloves and boots draped over his other arm, and was likely headed to his own room to add them to the ever growing Mountain of Filth.
They stopped by Garfield's room first, and as Raven turned to walk to her own, the changeling grabbed her and pulled her into another kiss. "I'm gonna go grab a hot shower. You're welcome to join me if you want," he whispered, winking at her as he disappeared into his quarters.
Raven shook her head as she arrived at her room. As much as she enjoyed the cold, she knew Garfield did not. Him going out in the snow to skate with her had been an act of goodwill on his part and she knew he was looking for a reward. If she joined Garfield in the shower like he had asked, she knew it was going to turn into more than just a shower.
Not that she minded. After all, it wouldn't be a reward only for Garfield. And she had to admit, while she did prefer winter and the cooler temperatures that came with it, the heat of making love with her sexy boyfriend did win out over ice skating any day.