Soothe

By Eternal Luna

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

Chapter One: Warm

Raven stood in kitchen in the middle of the night, waiting for the water for her tea to boil. In the darkness, she stood out. Her white skin glowed, her amethyst hair swished gracefully about her neck. Her bare legs rippled with muscles under her thin, tiny night gown.

"I didn't expect to see you here." Robin commented as he lingered in the doorway. Raven jolted and whirled around to face him, hands already covered in black telekinesis as she prepared for battle. Realizing it was only Robin, she let her guard back down.

"Oh. It's only you," she said in her usually monotone voice. Robin shrugged. He wore navy sweat pants, and nothing else. She had to force herself not to stare at his chest as he approached her.

She watched him open the refrigerator, mumbling to himself and scanning it for something edible. She peeked over his shoulder, curious as to whether he would manage to find something that wasn't covered in blue fur. He didn't. Robin scowled as he closed the door.

"First thing tomorrow, we go grocery shopping. And that's an order," Robin said, staring at the food in disappointment. Raven startled him by laughing. Robin gave her a funny a look. "Maybe I should get Beast Boy to come by. I'm sure he'd love to see you laughing for once," Robin said playfully. Raven stopped and her eyes widened.

"Don't you dare! His jokes aren't even funny." Raven said, watching Robin search the cupboards.

"And mine are?" Robin said, facing her and raising at eyebrow, almost suggestively. Her face flushed pink.

"I'm new to this whole 'humor' thing. I have low standards," she said, trying to stop herself from smiling as she looked at the astonished look on his face. Raven waited patiently to hear what he'd say next.

He said nothing, just smiled at her in a way that made her understand there wasn't a bad feeling between them. Raven opened one of the cabinets, and rummaged through it for the tea she wanted.

"What are you looking for?" Raven turned and found them dangerously close, so close in fact that their chests were nearly touching. If you included the tilt of his forehead and the way she had one arm reaching up, one might almost think that they were about to witness a passionate embrace.

The two titans stood unmoving, mentally trying to figure out the best way to disentangle themselves with the least amount of embarrassment. Each could hear the other's soft, constant breath, and saw the goose flesh emerging on their arms in the soft glow of moonlight.

Somewhere in the background, a kettle whistled.

"My tea!" Raven exclaimed. In a split second the position was forgotten as she hurried past Robin to attend to the kettle. He watched her toss a packet of herbs into a mug and then added the boiling water into it. Her normally pale skin was flushed from the close encounter and looked more human than usual. "Do you want some?" Raven asked, looking at Robin.

"Sure, why not?" Robin said good-naturedly. Raven nodded and grabbed another mug and packet. She passed the first mug to Robin and then helped herself. They sat down at the table in the main room, and stole glances of each other while sipping the hot tea. "It's good," Robin commented, braking the ice.

"Thanks," Raven said. She wrapped her slender fingers around the mug, absorbing its warmth. Robin watched the steam floating over her purple eyes. She caught his glance and immediately stared down shyly. She looked up again, and spoke.

"Why are you up so late? Shouldn't you be with Starfire?" Raven asked, cocking her head to one side. Robin shrugged.

"I was just hungry. It didn't seem like a valid reason to wake her up." Robin explained. "But what are you doing up yourself?"

"Insomnia," Raven said. Robin nodded. Happened to the best them. He didn't know a single hero who wasn't affected at one time or another.

"It keep you up much?"

"Not really. Just. . ." her voice trailed off and she was suddenly immersed in her tea. Robin stared at her. He reached across the table and touched her hand.

"Just what?" he asked softly, and he was so gentle and kind that Raven didn't have the heart to yell at him.

"Just if I start getting to worked up. Things here are. . .different. I mean, there are good things, but so much more to worry about. It's a hard job. . .everyday, you have to go out and save the world and if you can't stop it then it means that nobody can, nine times out of ten. I sometimes wish it would all just go away! Save your own cats! Why are you making this my problem?" Raven ranted, gestured this way and that.

"I know what you mean, but, after a big rescue or something, or when someone shows how grateful they are, it's really nice," Robin said. Raven smiled.

"That's so like you, Robin, always looking for the best in people," Raven said, looking at him across the table. "Well, we might as well be getting off to bed. God only knows we'll probably be awake in two hours anyway, throwing Dr. Light into jail or some other second-rate villain," Raven said as she got up. She placed her mug into the sink, and Robin did the same thing.

"Well, good night," Robin said awkwardly. Raven gave the boy wonder a funny look.

"Good night, Robin," she said. Raven moved to get away but suddenly felt his warm, strong hands on either side of her face. She moved a hand to pull one away and instead found her fingers splayed over the top of his palm. He gracefully leaned down and kissed her chakra.

"Oh!" Raven squeaked as his lips pressed against the small dot on her forehead. She held perfectly still, feeling herself relax. After what seemed like a small eternity, he finally came away from her, blushing.

"Good night Raven," He said firmly. As he walked off, she was left standing there in confusion, wondering as to exactly what had just happened.

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