The breakfast table was tense. Beyond tense. Raven couldn't look anyone in the eyes, despite not doing anything wrong. She didn't even know what was really making things tense. All she knew was that Beast Boy kept shooting her looks that she couldn't decipher and that her hood was incredibly useful for blocking out other people. Starfire seemed immune to the atmosphere.
"This break fast is splendid! Beast Boy, did you put something special in here?" She mumbled around a mouthful of fruit loops. She did not seem to realize that it had been poured from a cardboard box and was drowned in the bitter soy milk that Beat Boy favoured. The others did not share her enthusiasm for it. Beast Boy flicked his eyes at her, mumbled something in reply and continued to eat his own cereal. He had bags under his eyes, making his green skin look sickly, and his hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in a while. He looked so.......tired.
Cyborg cleared his throat awkwardly and stood up with his bowl. "I have some blueprints to work on. Yeah, blueprints" He walked away quickly before anyone could say anything. Robin was avoiding everyone's eyes as well. The only happy one at the table was Star Fire.
The sound of a doorbell echoed through the building.
They all looked up, even Beast Boy. The doorbell was ridiculously cheery for the headquarters, and sounded ridiculously out of place.
"I didn't even know we had a doorbell??" Beast Boy said, his eyebrows rising up in surprise. It was the first thing he'd said all morning. Robin shrugged. "Cyborg put it there as a joke, but I didn't think it would ever get used" He pushed his chair away as he stood up. "I'll go see who it is. It may be important. Be ready"
Cyborg had returned, and was standing with a hand on the back of Beast Boy's chair. His face was grave, as well as Starfire's. She wasn't happily stuffing her face anymore. Raven noted with interest that Beast Boy's shadow was the outline of a wolf. The atmosphere had changed from tense to wary. Robin walked back into the room with someone trailing behind him. His face was confused.
"It's for you, Raven"
Raven couldn't see who it was around Cyborg's body, but Beast Boy stood up and growled. "What's he doing here?"
Pheonix stepped around Robin and grinned crookedly at them. "Sup"
Raven felt her cheeks flush. This. Was. Bad. But why? She hadn't done anything. She was allowed to find a guy attractive. So what if she found Pheonix cute. It's not like she was dating Beast Boy. So she stood up and floated toward Pheonix and smiled at him, somehow feeling defiant towards Beast Boy, though he hadn't said anything to her. She grabbed Pheonix's arm and Beast Boy's eyes darkened.
"It's good to see you too, Raven" He said, his voice stuttering slightly, though he made a good show of being confident. She smiled at him again, hoping she didn't come off as crazy. Pheonix seemed suitably dazed. She pulled him into the corridor that led into the rooms. Beast Boy's eyes bore a hole in her back as she floated down the hallway, dragging Pheonix next to her. She squared her shoulders confidently and defiantly. She would not feel awkward because someone thought she was attractive.
Even though she didn't need to care about what Beast Boy felt, she did. She did, and it made her heart feel heavy. But she kept the smile on her face.
