...
It was late as the once blue sky darkened and the yellow sun fell off the horizon. The wind blew softly on this calm summer's night, as the stars slowly began to light the sky. It was a perfect night to patrol the city.
Robin had split the team up. He let Cyborg make rounds in his car, while he and Starfire were on foot. And that of course left Raven and Beast Boy as the bird's eye view.
The night came peacefully, showing that they only had an hour or so of patrolling to go before they could go home. Apparently, Beast Boy couldn't wait that long, as his wings grew too tired to fly.
Being that patrol was indeed almost over, he and Raven decided to rest on the roof of a high building, where they could easily see a good part of the city from their perch.
They sat on the edge, letting their feet dangle off the building as they watched the sun's light fully fade away. No one said a word when they were flying, mainly because in bird form Beast Boy couldn't, and Raven just didn't have anything to say.
So, in the air it was calmly quiet, but now that the two were sitting next to one another on the empty roof, it was no longer quiet, but awkwardly silent.
"Would this be a good time to talk about it?" He suddenly asked, breaking the silence.
She let out an exasperated sigh. "Frankly, I don't think there will ever be a good time to talk about it."
"Harsh."
"Well, what did you expect?" She asked somewhat bitterly as she turned to him.
"Okay, I get it, you're mad..." He concluded.
She sighed again, turning away from him. "I just don't understand why you did it."
He gave her a knowing look. "You can't think of any reason why I might kiss you? Really Rae? And you're supposed to be the smart one."
"It... It just caught me off guard." She said awkwardly, her voice quiet.
The interaction happened the day before, it didn't exactly happen the way he had planned. And he immediately regretted his actions when he saw her expression after he had kissed her.
He tried to talk to her about it, but she seemed to avoid the discussion. Then again, they weren't exactly alone when he would bring it up.
So, when Robin had teamed them up, he was very enthusiastic, but she wasn't so much.
"I take it you don't feel the same way." He concluded, slowly looking down at the city streets below them as he spoke.
"I..." She started. "I don't know how I feel." She managed to say.
He turned to her then, optimism lighting up his features. "What can I do to help you?" He asked.
"Help me with what?" She questioned, furrowing her brow as she turned towards him.
"Contemplate your feelings." He told her and she stared at him in surprise at his choice of words. "You know, figure out how you feel..." He corrected quickly.
"I know what contemplate means. I'm just surprised you used the word correctly."
He snickered. "You gotta give me more credit, Rae."
"I know." She couldn't help but agree. "So, in what way would you help me contemplate my feelings?"
"I could give you space. If that's what you want." He told her with a light shrug of his shoulders. "Or..."
She looked at him curiously. "Or?"
"Or I could do the opposite." He subtlety suggested, as he looked at her.
"And what would be the opposite of giving me space?" She asked hesitantly, despite knowing the answer.
He smiled as he noticeably scooted closer to her. And he couldn't help but notice as a small version of her own crept on her lips at the action.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"It's not bad." She admitted, and his smile grew as he slowly leaned closer to her expression. Her brow furrowed lightly as she was forced to stop his advances. "Wait..." She began in a soft tone, knowing what he was attempting to do.
His smile faltered as he slowed his approach. "What's wrong?" He asked quietly, without moving away.
"I... I don't want to hurt you." She spoke hesitantly, her voice riddled with concern.
He wanted to smile, but moderately held it in as he spoke. "And what makes you think you will hurt me?"
She looked at him gravely. "You know I don't have full control of my powers."
He remained unfazed as he continued to look at her. "I'm not scared of your powers, Rae." He told her softly as he inched forward and closed the distance between them.
She wanted to stop him, to pull away, but found herself unable to move. The kiss was so sweet, so innocent, and delectable. Just like the first, as she found herself melting into the embrace and returned it with yearning. And the only thing that got them to stop was her powers absorbing the air vent that was on the roof, and crumpling it into a dented mess of metal!
Raven quickly pulled away with a sharp gasp, started by the destruction she caused. Beast Boy looked at her in concern as she quickly got up and distanced herself away from him.
He got up and followed her, reaching a hand out, in an attempt to comfort her. "Raven?"
"I need space." She told him, distancing herself further.
"Rae." He said softly, ignoring her demand.
"Stay away." She told him sternly as she crossed her arms away from him.
He stopped briefly, before approaching her again. "No." She was surprised by the response and slowly turned to face him as he spoke. "I'm not gonna stay away..."
"You said you would give me my space?" She reminded, crossing her arms disapprovingly.
"I did, but that was when you needed to figure out your feelings." He told her. "And clearly they're figured out." He said, referring to what just happened. "I don't know why you think you will hurt me. Your powers only attack living things when you're mad. And if an air vent is the only thing that suffers when you get a little passionate, then I don't really see the harm." He explained, just for her to furrow her face into a worried expression.
"What if it isn't always an air vent?" She told him.
"Then we will handle it." He said reaching his hand out to her, but she took a step back. "If it really bothers you then we will take it slow, test limits, see how things go..." He told her, trying to reassure her. But she was still hesitant as she slowly looked off distantly, holding her arms in an attempt to comfort herself. He looked at her sternly, despite her looking away from him. "I'm not gonna let you say no to us, Raven." He told her in a serious tone. "Not over your powers. You have to tell me you don't want to be with me to get me to leave you alone."
She briefly turned back to him, just to look away again, struggling with her thoughts and inner contemplation. It grew quiet as the night sky darkened, and he let out a small sigh, before grabbing his communicator to check the time.
"Patrol is over. We can head back to the tower." He told her, and was about to walk away when she spoke up.
"Wait." She said quietly, and he quickly stopped and turned to her. "I want to give us a try." She forced herself to say. As soon as the soft words left her lips a grin appeared on his features. "But we have to take this slow." She told him seriously as he walked up to her. "I don't know the limits to my powers and-" Letting his enthusiasm get the better of him, he grabbed the side of her face and pulled her in as he kissed her. She quickly pulled away as she glared at him. "So much for taking things slow." She said in minor annoyance.
He couldn't help but give her a toothy grin, still inches from her face as he chuckled lightly. "Hey, nothing blew up."
...
