A Slippery Slope, A Green Horizon.

Early Riser

Pre-dawn light washed over Titans Tower, its warm glow creeping slowly down the massive buildings side.

In her room, Raven smiled to herself. Just a little.

Reaching out with her empathy, four distinct sets of emotions bloomed into being around her, all of them sluggish and unrefined in the depths of sleep.

As was always the case, she was the first to rise in the tower. Changing slowly into her leotard, cloak, belt and boots, Raven left her room. Gliding silently down the halls, passing through walls and floors in a swirl of dark energy, she made her way to the common room, where her teapot made its home.

Setting about her morning ritual of tea drinking, contemplation and early reading, Raven awaited the return of her friends from the iron grasp of unconsciousness.

Robin was awake soon after her tea was done boiling, no matter how long of a day the boy wonder had, he never failed to rise with the sun. Raven felt his emotions sharpen into the focused confidence that was ever present within their team leader. Entering the room and nodding politely towards Raven, he sat down with a recent issue of the Gotham Times and the two settled into a comfortable silence. Like Raven, Robin understood the peace of an early morning, the serenity found in quiet moments and contentment with ones knowledge that they were there before all others, to watch the world start anew with the receding shadows of night and the soft warmth of the returning sun.

He and Raven spent most mornings like this, simply appreciating the others company and revelling in the precious stretch of peace between dawn and the arrival of their friends (Who the both of them regarded as family, in their own ways)

Within her room, Starfire's emotions suddenly burst into life, her happiness and excitement rushed through Raven in a pleasant way. The empath tapped the table softly and Robin nodded, acknowledging that their peace was about to be broken.

Though neither was particularly unhappy to see it go.

"Good morning, Friend Raven and Friend Robin!" Starfire greeted them joyful, soaring above them in a jubilant circle. "Isn't today simply most wondrous indeed!"

"Morning Star. Get a good nights sleep?" Robin returned with an indulgent smile, setting his newspaper down gently.

"Most assuredly Friend Robin! I slept like a hog!" Starfire enthused, her hands clasped happily as she took her place at the table, noticeably closer to Robin than anyone else.

Robin raised an eyebrow at the excitable princess. "Uh... I think you mean "like a log" Starfire."

The young Tameranian frowned slightly. "But logs do not sleep Friend Robin, so how would one copy their sleeping habits?"

Before the bemused young man could respond, Cyborg's emotions coalesced into a ball of enthusiasm and amusement, his sudden shift into wakefulness was, as always, accompanied by a thundering "BOO YAH!" saving Robin from a confusing lesson in metaphors.
Cyborg marched into the common room and let out a warm "Mornin' y'all!" before setting about the kitchen with a vengeance. Today was grocery day and Cyborg was determined to use up all of the ingredients left from the previous week.

"I'm making eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles and fruit salad, so you'll all need to put on some game faces, cause this mornin' is going to be intense." He proclaimed, attending to the necessary preparations with gusto.

As the scents and sounds of Cyborgs cooking began to permeate the Tower, one last set of emotions finally began to solidify. Raven gripped the edges of her book a little tighter as she anticipated the next moments with a mixture of fascination and uncertainty.

Deep within the bowls of his room, Beast Boy's emotions pulled themselves together reluctantly as he woke in a haze. First confusion seeped from his mind as the transition between sleep and wakefulness took hold of the shape shifter. Second came realisation, as his eyes cleared and his room came into focus. Third, and this is what Raven had been waiting for, came a sudden and powerful something that Raven couldn't pin down. It was love and rage and a fierce protectiveness, all combined in a way that Raven couldn't even begin to understand. The strength of this raw, primal emotion took the sorceresses' breath away.

But what was it?

No human had ever given it off before around Raven, nothing remotely close to it. Not Cyborgs feelings as he took the wheel of the T-car, with all of the Titans within it. Not Starfire's jumble of nerves, joy and delight whenever Robin's hand brushed hers. Not even the Boy Wonder's ferocious pride and exhilaration whenever he shouted the famous Titans battle cry.

It was unique and unexplainable. Raven had noticed it shortly after the green teen had saved her from Adonis, when she had started to pay attention to the changeling in earnest. Mostly his emotions were ordinary, if a little on the cheery side. He kept a stable mixture of amusement and happiness bubbling away within him all the time, it was a soothing aura, something that Raven found herself drawn to inexplicably, like a moth to a flame.

Then, there were the rare moments his true self shone through.

Flashes of terror, rage and absolute, unwavering loyalty during particularly hard battles. Overwhelming joy, oneness and a sense of accomplishment during the moment all of the Titans sit to watch a movie. Almost dangerous levels of panic, fear and anxiety at the sight of a team mates blood.

Soaring joy and undiluted pride, whenever he made her smile or laugh.

Raven pulled herself from that particular line of thought with a stern frown, her stomach filled with butterflies that she most certainly disapproved of. She wasn't allowed to entertain such feelings of her own. Feelings were dangerous.

She was dangerous.

And even if Beast Boy was looking a little taller and a little... firmer, of late, she couldn't let herself think too long on it. There was no telling what her powers might do if she let herself run away with thoughts of how strong his hands were, or how cute it was when his ears twitched, or the deep green color of his eyes...

"Damn it." She growled quietly to herself.

Beast Boy trudged into the common room and levelled an imperious finger at his cybernetic friend.

"MURDERER!" He shouted as Cyborg flipped over the bacon he was frying.

"Hell, if this little piggy wasn't so tasty, I might feel guilty about munchin' on him. Guess we'll never know though, cause he tastes mighty fine!" Cyborg sighed, salting the eggs he had cooking on the other pan.

As the two launched into their daily argument on the merits and demerits of vegetarianism, Beast Boy grabbed a bowl of fruit salad and sat in his place beside Raven, who stiffened slightly.

"Excuse me. It's time for my morning meditation." She said flatly as she stood, though Beast Boy caught the slight blush colouring her cheeks.

"Sure Rae, I'll save you some waffles." He chirped in return, winking at her conspiratorially.

Raven's blush deepened beneath her hood as she teleported quickly from the room, several lights and an unlucky egg timer breaking with her escape.

Even in her own room however, the changeling's emotions reached her, his confusion and soft foreboding telling Raven that he had linked her departure with his actions and decided he had done something wrong.

Too bad for the light fixtures that he had done something right.

So very right.

Back in the common room, Beast Boy was frowning accusingly at Raven's recently vacated chair with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

The emerald young man knew he had done something to make the sorceress uncomfortable, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what.

"Don't worry Beast Boy, I'm sure Friend Raven will forgive you." Starfire reassured him with a knowing smile that made the shapeshifter uneasy for some reason.

"Yeah, but the real question is whether she'll forgive him before or after she's killed and buried him." Cyborg sniggered, dumping the steaming piles of food in front of his friends, making a point of setting tofu eggs and soy milk on the table for Beast Boy.

Having recently heard the green teens childhood stories of scrounging for food in alleyways and performing tricks for scraps, he always made sure there was something even a vegan could find to eat among the meals he served. Beast Boy was family, and no one in Cyborgs house would ever go hungry under his watch.

No one.

"Ha ha. I'm sure my impending demise at the hands of a certain azure haired girl is just hilarious to you." Beast Boy retaliated, taking two plates and heaping one with waffles, while the other was heaped with tofu eggs and pancakes.

"Wow, since when do you know words like "Impending" and "Azure"? Last I checked, you had trouble with basic english, let alone stuff like "Demise"." Cyborg marvelled, pretending not to notice as Beast Boy set the waffle filled plate to the side.

"With villains shouting lines about how their "Nefarious plots for the attainment of all accumulated industrial strength acidic compounds will serve to educate the asinine vigilantes that pursue them on the true definition of pain" it's kinda hard not to pick up a phrase or two. Plus I didn't want people thinking I'm dumb just because I don't use big words." He admitted with a shrug, flashing his toothy grin before wolfing down his meal, sometimes as an actual wolf.

Finishing his meal with an impressive belch, Beast Boy collected the plate he had set aside and walked to the elevators, tapping the up button firmly.

"Uh, Beast Boy? Yours and Ravens floor is down." Robin said, tilting his head in a silent question.

"Yeah, but Raven is on the roof dude." Replied the pointy eared youth as he stepped into the recently arrived elevator.

"How do you know?" The boy wonder inquired.

Beast Boy just smiled as the elevator doors closed.

Above him, the changeling's acute animal senses could hear Raven's gravely voice as she chanted her mantra.

Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos.

Raven hovered four feet off the ground, the edge of her cloak only just brushing the roof below her, serenity emanated from her very being. Within the peace of her cleared mind and untroubled emotions, she was free of guilt, of the worlds troubles and the stress of daily life.

Free of unsolicited kindness from a certain green someone.

A gentle tug on her cloak broke her concentration, her surroundings fading back into view and her senses reaffirming themselves. Beside her stood Beast Boy, a concerned frown on his normally light hearted face.

"If you don't eat something soon you'll be starving Rae, not to mention your waffles will go cold." He said uncomfortably, anticipating grievous bodily harm in the next few moments.

"Thanks Garfield."