Haircut

"Garfield?"

Beast Boy flinched. Raven flinched too. She had never spoke his name, his true name, and she wondered if they were close enough that she had the privilege to say it. But he turned to her with a smile, no harm done, and her worry was gone. Raven's indigo cloak was lightly tousled by the breeze as she levitated to him, a smooth shadow sliding along roof of their giant T-shaped home. Beast Boy sat with his legs hanging over the edge, and though there was plenty of space, he scooted over for her.

"Rachel?" He asked playfully. "We're on a first name basis now? Cool."

Rachel... It had been a long time since Raven heard her own true identity. She settled beside him and pressed her knobby knees together, leaning on one arm and laying the other in her lap. "I guess." She chuckled lightly. Beast Boy leaned back on his hands and sighed. Despite the previous battle that had drained every member on the team, being only a week before, the sunset before the pair had a calming effect. It dyed the sky orange and red and gold, blood and joy and victory.

But still blood. And a lot had been spilled, illuminated by the watchful full moon above the dark streets of Jump City.

The team knew that Slade was merciless. His eyes were always on the prize, and any obstacle could be slaughtered or hacked into movable pieces. This time, the obstacle had been human lives. What had driven Slade to be less secretive in his affairs and more upfront was known to only Robin, who would not share the reason. It caused a slight drift between the members, and Robin wasn't oblivious to the prying stares or watchful eyes of those he called his friends. Raven knew the feeling of being watched, but she had not had much experience of being on the opposite side, the one burning her eyes into someone's else's back.

She could easily use her abilities to venture into the depths of his mind and unravel the secret. Or secrets, as she was sure that there was more than one. But Robin claimed they were all his friends. He stressed the word friends in, what Raven thought, was a way to show them that he cared enough to keep the secretive burden to himself. He was always holding secrets on his broad shoulders for the rest of the team, seemingly having the most strength despite being the most human of them all.

"Raven..." Beast Boy sighed, going back to her alias. It saddened her a little. "How long do you think we'll be here?"

"What do you mean?" She turned her head and found that his eyes were examining her. He wasn't a mind reader, but he looked as if he had probed her thoughts and discovered something that disturbed him. After a beat, he silently lowered his eyes to the reflection of the burning sun on the water far below them.

"Gar-...Beast Boy?" Involuntarily, she touched his fingertips. The motion caught his attention and his eyebrows rose slightly. Raven felt her heart quicken, but neither pulled away.

Garfield sighed through his flaring nostrils and smiled. "No worries, Raven." He lightly ran his green fingers over her knuckles before returning them to her fingertips. "I mean, how long will we be on this team? As the Teen Titans? How much longer will we last?"

Raven hoped that the sunlight would disguise the color rushing to her cheeks. "I never really thought about that," she lied. It was always on her mind. After the battle with the Brotherhood of Evil, after the battle with her Father, the thought of an ending to the life she crafted for herself made her stomach churn. There had been so many changes, inward and outward, and she sadly allowed herself to adapt with the forever evolving world. She was aging. Robin was aging. Starfire and Cyborg were aging. Beast Boy, who technically right now should have changed his title to Beast Man, was aging. Her friends were reaching adulthood and grasping it with steady hands.

But not Raven. She was surprised that despite the continuous battles for the safety of humanity, and her own life, she was still alive. It occurred to her during her nineteenth birthday that her enemies were still imprisoned, Trigon was still trapped in the realm she expelled him to, and the Brotherhood of Evil was still frozen with no hints of thawing. This didn't mean that the acts of crime in the world ended, but those three moments were crucial in her life. They were times when she was sure her team would fall, that she would fall. Falling meant failure and failure meant death.

And each time, when she and her team escaped by a thin hair with victory, she felt incredibly guilty to think so low of the might of her teammates.

And here she was, alive and breathing. Beside a green man, no longer a green boy, with confusing feelings for him that rocked her equilibrium whenever she got too close. It was this growth of emotion specifically for him that scared her the most. She sighed. "Even if we grow up, we'll at least never grow apart." She said to herself more than to him. Beast Boy chuckled and leaned all the way back, supporting the back of his head on his folded arms. Raven tugged down the hood of her cloak, allowing the wind to toss her hair.

"I just realized something."

"What?"

"Your hair." He sat up on his elbows, grinning. "You shaved half of it off!"

Raven's tomato red cheeks were obvious against her pale skin. She had forgotten about her adventure with Starfire to the hair salon. Dodging a blow from Slade's katana, Starfire's hair had paid the price, along with her cheek. She had gained a short, a lacy pink scar on her cheekbone and an uneven hair cut. She had tried her best not to whine about the loss, but Raven knew how the orange female felt about her hair. It was a symbol of her heritage- her royal blood allowed it to give off a flaming glow whenever her powers were activated- but, like her confidence, the glowing had dimmed. Raven volunteered to take her to the hair salon and exited with her the left side of her head shaved.

"I-I was trying to cheer up Star."

"It looks great. Really, Rae."

Raven rolled her shoulders back and sighed. "I'm still getting used to it." She admitted to herself that she did like the fade style. The unshaved hair fell over her right eye and gave her what she thought a mysterious appeal. Ha. As if she wasn't already mysterious.

"Can I touch it?"

Raven leaned. Beast Boy sat up fully and lightly felt the soft shaved hair. He traced behind her ear, taking his time to appreciate the feel, and she shivered. When he began to play with her black industrial piercing, she batted his hand away. They laughed. Beast Boy then settled his fingers at the nape of her neck. Raven knew that he could feel her body temperature rising. Why did she have to blush so damn much? It was then that she noticed his cheeks were a darker green than the rest of his face. She pressed her fingers to his, and they smiled in unison.

"What would you think if I got a mohawk?"

She shrugged.

Beast Boy ran his fingers through his thick hair and gave a toothy grin. "I've been waiting for a big boy haircut for a long time." His eyes gave a haunted look, as if reminiscing. "I'm not a big fan of buzzing blades though." Raven chose not to ask why, and instead slid her fingers into his green locks. As always, his hair felt more like fur. She paused.

"Did you just say big boy hair cut?" She could barely contain her smirk when he stuck out his bottom lip, a trace of his younger and less mature habits. She poked her knuckles against the extended lip. "Put that back in." Raven then held his chain and turned his face to her own. She leaned forward and...

Pressed their foreheads together. She held his gaze, and slowly his wide eyes expression became sympathetic. "Raven...Rachel? Why are you crying?" In sync with his question, a salty tear landed on her lip. Raven released his chin to wipe the salty puddles from her eyelids. Beast Boy leaned forward and nuzzled her face like a comforting puppy, then pressed his hand to her back, allowing her to lay her head on his shoulder.

Sniffing, Raven replied. "Let's go get your big boy haircut, okay?" She then added with a whisper, slightly muffled by his shoulder but coherent enough for him to understand, "please don't grow up, Garfield..."