Hey, everyone! It's been a while since I've been on the site but I totally know what I'm doing. Really. I'm not nervous at all.

Really.

Broadcaster: Beast Boy's emotions are loud, sure, but it's not going to affect Raven. Nope. Not even a little.

Broadcasting, in all truth, wasn't that rare of a phenomenon. Had Raven been so inclined to go to the Superbowl, she likely would have run into one or two of them. She also would have spent her day vomiting into a trash can from the ever present assault on her empathic senses, but that was an issue of quantity rather than quality. She had learned from a young age to avoid places like that. That was an introductory lesson for empaths on Azarath, as even a relatively low powered empath could be overwhelmed.

Raven was not a low powered empath, which brought other problems about. Most empaths didn't have to worry about broadcasters, as they were comparable to a normal speaking voice in a room full of whispers. For Raven, a broadcaster was someone with a megaphone over a stadium of screaming fans. She had learned this at the tender age of six when she met a girl named Katrin, a young magically inclined girl who was going to join Raven in her lessons. Katrin's relatively minor delight at meeting another empath had caused Raven to destroy three statues.

She still remembered her mentor's not at all comforting words, "At a certain point, empathy become infinitely more trouble than its worth. It's really not worth much to begin with. Many children on Azarath wish for empathy, as it seems like a fun and interesting power. In reality, it's one of the most obnoxious curses a person can have."

Monks were terrible with children.

Thankfully, Raven had run into few broadcasters in her life. On the other hand, one of them was Beast Boy. Upon moving into the same house with him, she decided on three rules. The first was that she must look into his emotions as infrequently as possible to keep the connection between them weak. The second was that she needed to keep from projecting her emotions to prevent a feedback loop. The third was that he must never know.

Breaking the first rule was inevitable. They were teammates. They lived together. Regardless of whether she checked on his emotions or not, they had bonded, and that was that.

Breaking the second rule was most certainly not her fault. Beast Boy even dreamed loud, and in her sleep she responded in kind. Several times she awoke, panting from frighteningly intense dream of hunting an antelope or rabbit that were certainly not her own. There were other dreams too. Raven tried not to think of those.

The third rule, well, there was hardly any cause for it. Beast Boy was sparring with Cyborg in training and she had decided to watch. And then she decided to watch a little more. And then she decided to really watch. And before she knew it her hormones and emotions had conspired so she was watching every move he made so closely she could feel the stretch of his muscles, the beat of his heart, his delight and excitement as he bounced on the balls of his feet, ducking and dodging, until Cyborg caught him with a left hook to his side.

Pain wasn't really an emotion, but it was one of those things that could be transferred through empathy - that is, if one was paying especially close attention, especially if one was focusing rather intently on the body in pain. So Raven, who was convincing herself that she was really just interested in combat techniques, and who had been focusing rather intensely on the sparring match, let out a gasp of pain at the same time as Beast Boy, doubling over and grabbing at her side, exactly like Beast Boy.

Thankfully, Beast Boy and Cyborg were concerned with themselves, and for one perfect moment Raven assumed her mistake had gone unnoticed. Then she saw Robin looking her way, having just finished a set in the squatting rack. She fumbled at the link between her and Beast Boy, hoping to snap it quickly, but her attempts to snap the thread were as effective as going after steel wire with a plastic spoon.

And, of course, the Boy Wonder was already making his way over to her with his detective face on.

Knowledge sighed wistfully, Ah, well, it was nice to have while it lasted.

Raven's emotional avatars weren't often ones to talkback - considering they were little more than constructs she created to help keep things organized. But, every so often, her avatars seemed delighted to rub it in her face when she got something wrong.

I knew this would happen, Knowledge continued. I knew we shouldn't have put off the research. Now you'll have to tell him everything, and it'll probably end with you making out with Beast Boy.

Before Raven could think up a reply to that out of the blue statement, Robin was in front of her, looking stern and firm and all those other words that meant she was about to have a very bad day. He crossed his arms at her. "Raven, what was that?"

She stared for a moment. "I don't see how that's relevant to training."

"It looked like you just felt Beast Boy's pain."

Her hood, which a moment ago had rested peacefully against her back, slowly rose to cover her face. "I imagine it would look that way, Robin."

He stared, clearly hoping she would elaborate, and upon realising she wasn't about to budge from her silence, said, "So, what was it?"

Everyone was looking now and, as a last ditch effort to avoid the whole mess, she decided to revert back to her earlier defense: "I don't see how that's relevant to-"

"Raven," he warned.

She sighed. The plan had failed. Not that it had been a good plan, or even a plan, really, but she still had hoped Robin would let things go. "You are correct. I felt Beast Boy's pain."

"Does this always happen?"

"No, it's rather infrequent."

"Define infrequent."

Azar, this was going to be a terrible morning. "It's typically when someone is dying or in very intense pain."

"I'm dying?" Beast Boy squeaked.

Raven and Robin ignored him, though Raven did have to suppress the chill that slid down her spine. A nervous Beast Boy was worse than a screaming child in a library.

"Beast Boy obviously isn't dying," Robin said. "So why is this happening now?"

"I did say, typically."

"You're being evasive, Raven." He glared. "Give me a straight answer."

There were two options. The first option was to come completely clean and admit how intensely she had focused on Beast Boy. That would lead to teasing from her friend and insinuations of a romantic interest. The other option was to tell most of the truth, which she assumed would let her escape mostly unscathed, with only the slightest bit of teasing about her being sensitive to Beast Boy's emotions - most of which would likely focus on making fun of any hormonal urges Beast Boy would have had. Of course, that would have been throwing him under the bus.

"It's a combination of things," Raven said, shaking off the strangest sensation of hearing a blaring bus horn. "I try not to get caught up in the action. I can end up slipping into someone's skin." She glanced at Beast Boy who was already opening his mouth to retort. "Not literally. It feels a bit like I'm moving my own body, but not exactly. English really doesn't have words for this."

"So you were paying extra close attention to green bean?" Cyborg asked, already starting to grin.

She cut that off quickly. "I was paying more attention than usual, but that's only half the problem. The issue is that beast Boy is a broadcaster. His emotions are louder than others. It's not something new. He's always had it. it's my fault for not being careful."

Robin eyed her. "So this won't happen again? You won't be knocked out of a fight because Beast Boy is?"

Really, we'd end the fight far quicker if anyone damages him too badly. We'd destroy them and make out with Beast Boy, Affection responded cheerily.

"No, I won't," she said calmly, making a note on how many of her imagined future scenarios were starting to end with "make out with Beast Boy".

They dissipated - Starfire and Robin to the sparring corner, Cyborg to the weights. Beast Boy, however, stepped forward, his ears low against his head. He touched his hand to his side where Cyborg had hit him. "I'm sorry. Are you...do you need some ice?"

"There's no real damage to my body," she explain.

"So this doesn't hurt?" he asked, pressing the flat on his palm against her side.

She was quite proud that she managed to keep the explosive reaction to the candles in her bedroom. Had he done that a few months ago, she almost certainly would have thrown half the equipment in the gym and had to run off to meditate. Now, she merely scowled and slapped his hand away. "It doesn't, and you don't need to worry. You're just emphatically loud - much like your speaking voice."

She felt mischievousness slowly creep over her, and a glance up into Beast Boy's smirking face proved that it was indeed coming from him. "So, theoretically, does that mean there's a way to take my loud emotions and make them louder?"

"No," she said far too quickly.

He grinned, tapping his ear. "Now, Raven, your heart sped up. That's what happens to liar's hearts."

And Affection, sounding more like a grumpy child than a dangerous avatar of emotion, muttered, If this doesn't end in making out with Beast Boy, I'm pulling a Wicked Scary.

So, there we go! Attempt number one at returning to fanfiction. Reviewing would be awesome, but I understand if you don't. Reviewing is hard. I mean, all that typing and clicking and then there's that dragon you have to fight...ugh. Such a hassle.