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There are a handful of reasons that Raven has decided Bruce Wayne will be the subject of her disdain for at least the evening. First is the fact that he never acknowledges how good Alfred's tea is (phenomenal, really); and second is that he's used a favor Robin owes him to drag all the Titans into his charity event. Who holds their children to favors, anyway?
Then again, when she considers her own father, she thinks being expected to attend a charity gala is a better option. That doesn't mean she's happy about it, though.
She'd feel a little less annoyed if Bruce would've let her teleport everyone there, but he had said no — "The sulfur smell would be a little off-putting at an event like this, Raven." — insisting instead that they should take a limo to the event hall from his manor and back, separate from him. Thus Raven finds herself seated between a hyper Beast Boy, who's already finished one glass of champagne, and Cyborg, who keeps flirting with Bumblebee. It's loud, feels too compacted, and she probably should've asked someone weaker than Starfire to lace up the back of her dress.
I could just teleport the limo, she thinks, glancing first at the driver through the tinted partition and then at Robin, who's gazing moon-eyed at Starfire, not at all worried about his gala speech anymore . I should just teleport the limo.
As if on cue there's a tap on her shoulder, snapping her out of her daze. She turns her head sharply to find Beast Boy grinning, holding a glass of champagne in either hand.
"It's good," he says, waggling his brows. Raven frowns.
"I don't drink."
"I think this might be just the time to start," he jokes. "You look tense." She's about halfway to a snide retort when she stops, pondering his words for a moment. She notices that her knuckles have gone white from how she's got her hands fisted up in her lap.
"...that bad?" she asks, sighing. He nods,
"Worse than usual. And your usual is already pretty bad."
"I didn't ask you to elaborate," she snipes, but she takes the glass he's holding out towards her. She hesitates a moment as she holds it in front of her lips, before taking a deep breath and downing half of it. Beast Boy bursts into laughter at the expression she makes. With her brows still knit and nose scrunched, she jabs her elbow into his ribs, turning his laughter into whining.
"What was that for?" Raven takes a sip, shooting him a sharp look. He pouts, "is it because I laughed? I wasn't laughing at you."
At this she turns her full face towards him, fixing him with her most deadpan stare. He holds it awkwardly for a beat before stretching his arms out, twisting his torso as if to check for any lingering pain in his ribs. Dramatic , she thinks. He sets down the glass and places his hands behind his head,
"I wasn't though, not in a mean way. It was cute."
"Watch it," she snaps again, and he holds his hands up in surrender.
"Okay, alright. Sorry."
"Good."
It's as she turns away from them that she realizes they're finally pulling up outside the event hall. She quickly downs the rest of the champagne as the others begin filing out, Robin and Starfire first. The alien princess seems right in her element, beaming at the people opening the doors for them and leaving everyone speechless, swooning in her wake. Despite the adoring gazes around her, she clings to Robin's elbow, leaning into him.
Cyborg and Bumblebee go next, and Raven is shocked when Beast Boy slides out in front of her, offering his hand to help her out. She takes it, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress and taking a moment to size him up. Surprisingly, the tuxedo fits him in a way it didn't just the year prior — she hadn't really paid attention, but seeing him like this makes her realize he's lost most of his baby fat. He's grown up, she thinks, and it makes her chest squeeze strangely. She clears her throat and takes the arm he offers her, turning her gaze towards the doors.
"You look nice," she says, finally. Without looking at him she can tell he's beaming, waggling his brows at her as his aura brightens with playfulness.
"Thanks," he replies, puffing his chest up proudly. "You look pretty, too." She wishes her voice wouldn't come out so soft when she thanks him, still unable to look directly at him. It's just her nerves, she tells herself. Having to dance in front of a crowd, having to be around so many people for so much time, and feeling so exposed all the while. Although she had chosen a dress with a built-in gauzy cape, it still lacks the comfortable coverage of her usual cloak.
The ballroom is already decently full, but the crowd has parted, applauding, as the guests of honor enter. Bruce is standing in the center of the room with the rest of the Titans already, waiting for them. Raven has the desire to shrink into herself, but instead takes a slow, deep breath and straightens her posture. After Robin's speech and the first dance, she can tuck herself away into a quiet corner and snack on expensive hors d'oeuvres for the rest of the night.
Bruce greets Raven and Beast Boy, but she merely nods curtly before grinning softly at Alfred standing behind him. Alfred returns her smile and nods as well, before all of them make their way towards the stage Bruce has set up.
As he takes his place behind the podium to start the event, Robin following behind, prepared to make his speech, Raven slips her hand from Beast Boy's elbow.
She tries to focus on Bruce's words, but the emotions in the room are overwhelming. Looking at him, she wonders if he knows how many of the women are here less for charity and more for the opportunity to snag Gotham's most eligible bachelor off the market. If she weren't irritated with him, she'd almost feel bad, knowing he's about as awkward with people as she is.
She can feel Beast Boy getting nervous beside her, impatient, and in a rare moment of solidarity and maybe pity she attempts to lighten the mood.
"I'll never get used to seeing him without the costume. Especially the ears," Raven murmurs dryly, flicking her gaze towards Bruce. Beast Boy does his best not to laugh noticeably. It eases the tension in her shoulders somewhat, though it doesn't alleviate the strange feeling in her chest — like all the champagne bubbles have accumulated there and refuse to pop. Beast Boy, meanwhile, looks calm if a little stifled by his tuxedo. She notices that he keeps fiddling with the tie around his neck, pulling at it without actually managing to loosen it during Bruce's speech. With the rest of the audience watching the evening's benefactor closely, Raven finds herself glancing at Beast Boy — once more tugging at his tie.
"Is it too tight?" she asks, finally, unable to watch him struggle anymore. Her tone may be a bit more sharp than intended, as he turns bashful and embarrassed under her gaze. She tries to soften her expression, but keeping at bay the overwhelming energy in the room paired with her own discomfort is taking up most of her patience and decorum.
"A bit," he replies, casting his gaze down. He fiddles with the knot, frowning, and Raven bites down on the inside of her cheek watching him before letting out a frustrated sigh.
"Here," is all she says as she lightly swats his hand away from his chest, deftly loosening the tie herself and straightening it. "Better?"
As the seconds tick by without a word from Beast Boy, she raises one eyebrow and lifts her gaze to meet his. With their close proximity she realizes that he's gone stiff, practically holding his breath as she lingers in his space.
"Beast Boy?" she prompts, impatient and a little unnerved. He jumps slightly and clears his throat, reaching up to smooth his tie down.
"Yes, yeah. Thanks, Rae." Her nose crinkles at the nickname, which she hardly tolerates in the confines of the Tower, much less in public when serving in their heroic capacities as guests of honor. Beast Boy merely smiles in the face of her scowling, but any retort she may have made is interrupted by applause. She quickly turns her attention to the stage, applauding politely, where Bruce is stepping aside for Robin to make his own speech. In a somewhat surprising twist, Starfire ascends the stairs with him, beaming. Raven can feel the rush of stunned admiration in the crowd as the princess casts her bright green gaze over them, and can't help but smile herself. Robin may be the one speaking, but she knows it's the statuesque, golden-skinned woman standing just behind him that really has everyone's attention. She realizes, belatedly, that that was probably Robin's intention all along, and lets out a laugh under her breath.
Like most of his public appearances, Robin keeps it short and simple, thanking people for their contributions and reminding them of the silent auction occurring. Excitement surges from the crowd as Robin mentions that the final dance of the evening, with Bruce Wayne himself, is one of the prizes, but almost stronger than that is Bruce's cringing anxiety soaring. She glances at him to find him smiling stiffly, nodding, confirming Robin's words. She feels just the slightest bit of pity for him, but that dissolves when Bruce steps up to the podium as Robin and Starfire descend to raucous applause and murmurs through the crowd. There are a number of women already swarming the silent auction table, and Bruce laughs awkwardly as he notices them,
"No need to rush, the silent auction will be going on throughout the evening. The first dance will be performed by the Teen Titans, along with the representative from Titans East, Bumblebee." Polite, if disappointed, applause follows his announcement, and Raven stiffens slightly as the other Titans begin making their way onto the dance floor. Bruce had coordinated some last-minute dance lessons for them, but knowing that she would be able to feel the crowd's judgment makes her more anxious than the dancing itself. Beast Boy offers her his hand, smiling reassuringly. She's surprised when he gives it a gentle squeeze as they take their places on the floor. With his other hand now on the small of her back, warm and reassuring, he cracks a smile and leans towards her ear.
"If you forget the steps, just levitate a little. I'll take care of the rest," he whispers. Raven is too stunned to speak, even more so when he shoots her a wink after pulling away. Before she can decide whether to thank or scold him, the string quartet begins playing a simple waltz, and Beast Boy gently tugs her into the first step.
She glances down at their feet, nervously watching the hem of her dress and the position of his own feet. The last thing she wants is to step on his toes and make a fool of them both in front of the wealthiest people in Gotham — not that it really matters, she thinks, but feeling the weight of their emotions would be a bit burdensome on top of everything else. Again, Beast Boy gently squeezes her hand, pulling her slightly closer to his chest with his hand on her back; she looks up, startled.
"Just keep your eyes on me," he whispers. "Follow my lead. I've got you." It's less his words and more the confidence wafting off of him that makes her smile, soften her posture, and go along with it.
It's easy enough at first, she thinks, to look into his familiar, smiling green eyes and let her anxieties slip away. However, the longer she looks at him from this close, the more she notices the subtle changes in his features that she's somehow missed over the years. The tension in his muscular bicep under her hand, reassuring and firm; the sharpness of his jaw, the fullness of his lips. His hand against her back is larger than she had first realized, the heat of his skin almost making her shiver. Even the fact that she has to look just the slightest bit up in order to meet his gaze now leaves her wondering how she hadn't noticed how much he'd grown up — how much they all had, really — right beside her. Her throat goes dry when he smiles, an unfamiliar fondness suddenly sweetening his aura, her heart skipping a beat unexpectedly.
Had he always looked at her like this? she wonders, overwhelmed by the tenderness radiating from him and the soft look in his eyes. Had he always been so handsome, so warm?
With her mind racing, the music stops, and Beast Boy lets go of her waist. An unexpected disappointment pricks her heart as the cold air wafts over where his palm had been, but it dissipates when he bows his head and raises her other hand to his lips, pressing a kiss just above her knuckles. She wonders how many times it's possible to render a person speechless in one night as the attendees erupt into applause once more, Bruce announcing the beginning of the ball in earnest. Beast Boy's grin is just the slightest bit sly as he ushers her off the dance floor behind Cyborg and Bumblebee — she belatedly notices that Starfire is excitedly pulling a red-eared Robin into a second dance.
On the outskirts of the crowd, Beast Boy finally lets go of her hand. When he remains standing beside her, she turns her head to face him, wanting to say something but not sure what. He simply smiles at her patiently with his eyebrows raised in curiosity, but she doesn't manage to find the words before someone approaches them.
"Hello, Beast Boy," the older gentleman says. He shakes Beast Boy’s hand, practically beaming at him. "It’s a pleasure to meet you. I'm with the Wildlife Preservation Alliance — could I borrow you for a moment?"
She doesn’t expect Beast Boy to turn back to her, as if asking for permission, and so it takes her a moment to realize he’s waiting for it. When she does, she dips her head in a quick nod and the man is quick to pull Beast Boy away, likely towards other board members. Beast Boy holds her gaze for as long as he can without seeming impolite, and she thinks she senses just a touch of frustration from him before his focus shifts.
Almost immediately after Beast Boy is pulled away, Raven is approached by a local librarian she recognizes who quickly engages her in conversation. The older woman is kind and passionate, and Raven at times finds herself feeling a little bad that she can't match her enthusiasm outwardly, but she tries to make up for that in any kind of support she can manage.
The librarian chats for a while about how her and Starfire's joint children's literacy program has been panning out — very well, apparently, which gives Raven a surge of pride. Most of the publicity had been focused on Starfire, who had always been better with kids and photoshoots, but it was one of the few instances in which Raven had also been a figurehead. That said, she still avoided looking at the ad campaign out of embarrassment, and had been avoiding Starfire’s room due to her having one of the posters proudly displayed on her wall.
Raven is snapped out of her internal cringing by the librarian’s slightly hushed voice,
"Are you sure about your donation, by the way?" she asks, peering at Raven over the frames of her glasses. Raven gives her a wry smile, well aware of why she's asking.
"Yes, I still want to remain anonymous. Thank you, though." The librarian huffs slightly and shakes her head.
"I don't know why you still insist on that. You're doing a good thing." Raven wonders if, under normal circumstances, this is what a grandmother would act like. The closest to one she had ever had was Azar, who was placid and gentle as a glassy lake, and rarely showed her disapproval (or any other emotion, really) so openly. She can feel the affectionate frustration wafting off of the woman, and it brings a more genuine smile to her face.
"I just don't like the spotlight," Raven replies, and the woman sighs once again.
"Alright, alright. You'll be at the meeting next month, won't you?" Raven flushes at hearing the somewhat secretive book club brought up in the open. It wasn't anything to be ashamed of, she knew, but she liked keeping her social activities tucked away from the public eye as neatly as possible. She holds her composure, however,
"Yes. Starfire will be with me."
"Oh, wonderful! We can all talk about the children's program then, too." Raven nods, but before she can speak the old librarian reaches out to pat her arm, smiling,
"I've taken up too much of your time with this. Go have fun, the night is young." The twinkle in her eye is playful, and Raven feels herself getting embarrassed all over again as she politely waves the woman off. She can't help but think that while the night may be young, she certainly feels too old to enjoy it. Looking around at the glittering room and all the excited, tipsy smiles on everyone's faces makes her feel out of place.
Once Raven is alone again, she shifts herself towards a corner, trying to blend into the shadows. On her way there she catches sight of Bruce, currently being swarmed (in the most polite manner possible) by women. He glances up and catches her eye, and Raven feels a spike of relief from him in that moment — she looks away and continues walking, feeling his aggravation and despair at her doing so. It's less than she would have imagined, likely because Bruce is already well aware that she's the least likely of the Titans to help him, except maybe for their alien princess.
Out of Bruce's sight, and feeling a little smug about his predicament, Raven lets out a sigh and rolls her shoulders back. She feels stiff and tense, though she knows nobody in the room would possibly know it at a glance. Holding her barely-sipped champagne, she appears the picture of calm elegance, despite a deep desire to teleport away as soon as possible.
She can't help but frown thinking about the stuffy limousine waiting to take them back to Wayne Manor, where Bruce insisted they stay the night. She will never understand Bruce.
The thought of the car makes her feel the need to be even more alone, and so she quietly makes her way towards the curtains obscuring the French doors to a balcony. If Bruce hadn't held events here before, she wouldn't have even known there was one there. She looks around to be certain nobody is watching before she swiftly opens the door and slips through the curtains, closing them behind her as she escapes onto the moonlit terrace.
It feels colder outside than she recalled it being when they arrived, and pulls the dress's sheer cape as close to her arms as possible, though it hardly helps. Stubbornly refusing to go inside just yet, she instead takes a sip of her drink, shivering slightly as its warmth radiates through her chest. She lets out a sigh and takes in the unfamiliar skyline of Gotham, the buildings all feeling too close for comfort compared to the Tower’s view of their own city. Raven huffs in annoyance and takes another, longer drink.
She hadn't heard the door open, but she does hear the sound of the party briefly before it's closed again, and she listens to the footsteps approaching her, not bothering to turn and look. Just by the aura, she knows who it is.
“So this is where you disappeared to,” Beast Boy says playfully, coming to stand beside her at the railing. She quirks an eyebrow up, turning to look at him.
“It wasn't much of a disappearing act.” He laughs, conceding her point,
“Yeah. Not for you, anyway.” Beast Boy rests his elbows against the railing, leaning down just slightly to do so — enough that Raven is taller than him again, a thought which ticks one corner of her mouth just slightly upward. She's glad his gaze is elsewhere, so he doesn't notice. His presence is surprisingly calming, a contrast from the overwhelming mob of emotions inside the ballroom, and she feels the tension in her shoulders seeping away slightly.
However, a sudden breeze makes her tense right back up, still gripping at the useless gauzy cape across her back. Unlike her smile from before, this doesn't go unnoticed by her teammate, who turned his attention back to her the moment he felt the chill.
“Cold?” he asks. He doesn't wait for a reply, knowing she would probably have stubbornly insisted against it, and straightens up his posture. Before she can protest, he's removed his dress jacket and draped it over her shoulders, its warmth immediately engulfing her. She stares, bewildered, for a moment. Beast Boy carefully adjusts it on her, making sure it's sitting squarely on her shoulders, and she finds herself mesmerized by the shadows cast across his face. When had he lost that last bit of baby fat around his cheeks? When had his jawline become so pronounced? She swallows thickly as he smooths the arms of the jacket down and retracts his hands, smiling at her in the same unabashed, fond way he had on the dance floor.
“There, that's better, right?” Out of instinct she wants to argue, but instead she finds herself trying to understand the exact emotions behind the look in his eyes, and settles for acquiescing instead.
“Thanks, Garfield,” she replies, softer than she means to, curling the fingers of one hand into the blazer’s lapel and tightening her grip on her glass with the other. She looks away from him again, out into Gotham, and takes another quick swig of champagne to distract herself from the surprisingly attractive scent wafting off the jacket.
Beast Boy, with his naturally high body temperature, appears unaffected by the cold despite shedding a layer. He reassumes his earlier posture and closes his eyes for a moment — another moment Raven takes to admire him in the stillness of the night. She can't help but think that it was only yesterday they were all awkward, misfit teenagers living in their Tower. Somehow, without her noticing, they had all grown up into adults. Her heart squeezes, just a little.
“It should be wrapping up soon,” Beast Boy sighs, lazily opening his eyes again. They remain half-lidded, revealing how tired the normally boisterous hero actually is after the night of networking.
“Does that mean it's almost time for Bruce’s dance? I can't miss that,” Raven says, smirking at the thought of Gotham’s most eligible and awkward bachelor being dragged onto the floor by one overly enthusiastic woman as all the others watch with envy. She still hasn't forgiven him for pulling them into this event in the first place.
Beast Boy laughs and stands back upright, stretching slightly,
“We should head back in then,” he says. “So we can get the best view.” Raven can't help but smile as he opens the door for her, his hand once again grazing along her back as he ushers her into the brightly-lit ballroom just as Bruce steps onto the stage, where Robin waits with the bidding sheet to announce the winner of the silent auction.
The dance is just as awkward as Raven had hoped it would be, made even funnier by Beast Boy’s occasional asides and the remarks she can hear from Cyborg and Bumblebee just beside them, along with Robin’s awkward grimace watching his adoptive father try desperately to look less uncomfortable than he feels. Serves Bruce right, she thinks.
Finally, the Titans bid goodnight to everyone in the room and pile back into the limousine, in varying degrees of exhaustion and drunkenness. Beast Boy is the last in, offering Raven his hand as she steps up into the back; she takes it, less hesitant than before. The drive back to Wayne Manor is silent, as Bumblebee and Cyborg speak in hushed tones and Robin quickly falls asleep with his head on Starfire’s shoulder, leaving her to snap multiple selfies that Raven is sure will embarrass him in the morning. The unbridled joy on her friend’s face is enough to make her smile too, though, and she melts back into her seat with a sigh. She struggles to keep her eyes open, until Beast Boy gently rests his hand on hers,
“Get some sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there.” Somewhere deep down, she thinks she should protest, but she's already begun to fall asleep as she nods at his suggestion. Just as she goes unconscious, she feels a warm hand gently guiding her head onto a shoulder and stroking over her hair soothingly, and then she falls asleep.
The next morning, when Alfred sits across from her for their sunrise teatime and asks how the night was, she can't hide her slight smile from his wise and well-trained eyes when she says,
“Not terrible.”