Chapter Text
“’Morning, Raven!” he said as he plopped down onto the stool next to hers, his bowl overflowing with Lucky Charms. A bit of rainbow-colored soy milk sloshed onto the counter near her hand, and she instinctively shifted herself further away from him and the breakfast catastrophe waiting to happen. She watched in distaste as he began shoveling the processed cardboard and mystery fluff into his mouth. He noticed the wry pull of her mouth and grinned at her, a marshmallow stuck to his chin. He quickly picked it off and tossed it into his mouth, which in her opinion wasn’t any better. She closed her book and shifted in her seat to leave, but suddenly she felt the pressure of a hand on her shoulder. She startled, but hid it as she turned to stare at Beast Boy, whose marshmallow-picking hand now rested on her cloak.
“Yes?” she growled, brushing his hand off and standing up to leave.
He looked concerned. “I – I was just wondering if you were feeling alright. You seem – not quite yourself. Y’know?”
“No, I don’t know.” Silence rested between them as he continued to stare up at her, and she stared at the countertop, trying to figure out how he had known. Maybe she wasn’t as good at stifling emotion as she thought she was. Finally, she let her words softly break the silence. “I just have a headache. It’s nothing serious.”
“Well, I hope you feel better. Do you want some tea? Some medicine? Maybe you should take a walk? I don’t really get headaches, so I don’t know what would help, but maybe I could…”
“Beast Boy!” She cut him off before his rambling could made her head hurt even worse. “I think – some tea sounds nice. And a nice, quiet, dark room.”
“Gotcha!” he cried as he leaped up. “You just rest, I’ll get it for you!”
Apprehension filled her, but she decided to sit back and watch what she was sure would be a disaster unfold. She imagined water boiling over the kettle, tea leaves strewn across the room, and second degree burns all over his body. And she really wasn’t in the mood to heal anybody at the moment.
But, surprisingly, before she even knew what was happening, he was setting a cup of tea in front of her, smiling and only waving one slightly burnt finger in the air. “Your tea, Madame,” he said with a low bow, backing away and pretending to twiddle a moustache.
She cautiously lifted the tea and took a sip; it was a little over-steeped, but otherwise, perfectly fine. The tea warmed her as it slid down her insides, and she found a small smile hijacking her face. “Thanks, Beast Boy,” she said. The two sat in a companionable silence for a long moment before Raven stood again, turned, and made her way out of the room. Beast Boy’s “Tea you later, Raven! Feel better!” followed her up the stairs and out the door, and although she couldn’t help but roll her eyes, she also couldn’t help but smile.
***
He sensed that something was off while he was pouring his cereal into the bowl. His ears picked up a near-silent sigh, and his animal instincts alerted him to some kind of pain. As always when it came to situations involving Raven, he felt a twinge of fear. He had felt the keen edge of her wit, and her strength, more times than he could count. Not only that, but he could sense some kind of deep darkness within her. Whether it was his animal senses that told him this, or some sense of empathy, he didn’t know. But no matter how he felt, he always tried to do for her what he did for everyone else; include her, entertain her, and make her laugh.
Beast Boy was so caught up in his thoughts about Raven that he didn’t notice how much cereal he was pouring into the bowl until it started spilling over the sides. “Whoops!” He stared at it forlornly for half a second before shrugging and pouring in a generous helping of soy milk. The more the merrier.
He purposefully chose the seat right next to Raven, plucked up his courage, and greeted her as warmly as he could. She only shifted away from him. Typical. Oh, well. He indulged himself in his cereal for a minute before addressing the elephant in the room. Without thinking about it very much, he reached out and touched her on the shoulder to get her attention. It was a natural thing for him – Rita, if not Mento, had been very affection to him as he grew up, and he had it in his head that everybody wanted to be comforted by a touch.
Her eyes snapped to his, but he held his ground, even as she brushed his hand away. A small prick of pain resonated in his heart, but he ignored it. “Yes?” she demanded.
“I – I was just wondering if you were feeling alright. You seem – not quite yourself.” Suddenly he doubted his instincts. Maybe she was fine, and he was just overthinking things, or making a mess of them as usual. “Y’know?” he offered, halfheartedly hopeful.
“No, I don’t know.” Silence rested between them like an unpleasant relative that you desperately want to kick out of your house. He continued to stare at her, wondering what he could say to make things right again. That part of him that desperately wanted to be friends with everyone was taking over. So, her next words came as a rush of relief as he found his opportunity to return himself to her good graces. “I just have a headache. It’s nothing serious.”
“Well, I hope you feel better. Do you want some tea? Some medicine? Maybe you should take a walk? I don’t really get headaches, so I don’t know what would help, but maybe I could…”
“Beast Boy!”
He halted mid-speech, mentally smacking himself. Of course he was bothering her – he should know better by now than to ramble like that.
“I think – some tea sounds nice. And a nice, quiet, dark room.”
“Gotcha!” he cried as he leaped up. “You just rest, I’ll get it for you!”
Okay, okay, you got this, Beast Boy. You’ve watched her make tea a hundred times. Just turn on the kettle – get a cup – put in the teabag – okay, it’s green, that means it’s ready? – pour it in the – OUCH! Shake it off, shake it off – in the cup it goes, and then wait – okay, that looks pretty good. Now don’t mess this up.
He set the cup of tea carefully in front of her, giving her his warmest smile – the one he had practiced in front of the mirror countless times in younger days. “Your tea, Madame,” he said with a low bow, backing away and pretending to twiddle a moustache.
He was delighted to see the slight upturn of her lips after she sipped the tea – it made him think of those time-lapse videos of flowers blooming during the sunrise. There was silence between them again, but this time it was a welcome silence – it was the goofy, lovable uncle you don’t want to see leave at the end of Christmas.
He was a little sad when Raven got up to move, but he also felt like it was the perfect time to try out a pun to make her laugh – his last-ditch effort of the morning. “Tea you later, Raven! Feel better!” he called after her. He couldn’t really tell if she was laughing or not, but it was okay – he knew that she thought he was funny.