Archive of Our Own ^beta

A quiet, peaceful morning. That was all Raven was looking for.

No bizarre alien lifeforms that Starfire had acquired for the purpose of cooking. No ongoing arguments regarding the merits of meat VS tofu. No Robin hassling them over their recent training performances, which were somehow always better than expected, yet falling short of his demanding standards. And most of all, no Beast Boy.

No insincere “What are you reading?” when she knew full well that he wouldn’t understand half of the words in just the synopses of the books that she read. No asking if she wanted to see how many marshmallows he could fit in his mouth, and then beginning the attempt before she even had a chance to tell him that she wasn’t interested. No unprompted recitation of a list he had found of the top fifty funniest knock-knock jokes in an attempt to get her to smile. She had certainly grown to… appreciate his efforts, somewhat, but sometimes she just required a calm, tranquil start to her day, and that was what she was after today, as she walked into the Common Room.

She had a better chance than normal today because, rarely enough, she had overslept. She had been so close to finishing the final chapter of her most recent book, and it had the absolute gall to end on a cliff-hanger. It was already two in the morning, so she knew that she should try to sleep… but she also knew that the next instalment in the series was right there on her shelf. She would just read the first chapter or so, to resolve the cliff-hanger. And then the next one, because the resolution had raised more questions than answers. And then the next… seven. Raven had nodded off some time around five, and woken up at ten… and promptly gone back to sleep for another hour.

Because of this, she found herself entering the Common Room just before midday. She found it mostly empty; breakfast had already been eaten and cleared away. Someone had thoughtfully left her a mug of herbal tea on the counter, although by now it was quite cold. She could both hear and sense the aura of someone else in the corner of the room, fiddling around with something but keeping to themselves. Raven appreciated the company; just because she wanted peace and quiet didn’t mean that she wanted to be completely alone.

Raven made her way to the kitchen and made herself a fresh – and warm – mug of herbal tea, and then moved to the couch, nose still in her book. Preparing herself for a (hopefully) relaxing rest of the morning, she placed the mug on the table in front of her and sat down on the couch.

…

Or rather, sat through the couch.

With a shriek of alarm and mild pain, Raven fell hard on her butt, straight through the empty space where the couch cushions should have been, and landed roughly on the solid metal framing beneath. Before she could ask what the hell was going on, the figure in the corner ran into view, panicking and shouting a warning that was more than a few seconds too late.

“Oh, shoot! Don’t sit there, don’t sit there, I… sorry, I’m kind of… um,” Beast Boy frantically apologized, before taking in the sight before him. In equal measures, he was horrified to see that Raven of all people had fallen victim to his carelessness, but also uncontrollably amused that Raven, usually the picture of poise and composure… was currently trapped, butt-first and legs stuck in the air, right in front of him. Sweat formed on his brow as he desperately tried to restrain from laughing.

Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh, she’ll kill you if you laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh

Raven’s eyes were quickly turning red, which only made the position that she was in look even sillier, so Beast Boy paused to half-cough, half-laugh into his elbow, and then cautiously extended a hand to her own.

“Let me… help you up there, Rae,” he offered, his amusement growing as quickly as his nerves. Raven reluctantly accepted his hand, gripped it tightly enough for it to almost hurt, and pulled herself free from the prison of disassembled furniture she had found herself in.

“What the hell is going on?” she snapped, the red not quite faded from her eyes. Now that she was in a less amusing position, and also much more physically able to smack him, he didn’t find the situation nearly as funny anymore.

“Well…” he cautiously glanced back at his morning project. Raven peered around him to confirm the sight for herself, and groaned in disbelief.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me…”

With a medley of pillows, cushions, blankets draped over chairs, and what appeared to be his mattress, Beast Boy had been in the process of making a pillow fort. She could spot the couch cushions, both large and small, somewhere in the mess. She raised a hand and the largest cushions were seized by dark powers, ready to return to their rightful place, maybe making a quick detour to give Beast Boy a light smack along the way

“Wait wait wait!” Beast Boy interrupted desperately, before attempting to calm down and talk slower. “Now, Rae, it’s just a bit of fun, and… I know that it’s a long shot, but I was actually going to ask if you maybe… wanted to help?”

Beast Boy’s confidence in his proposal, practically non-existent to begin with, collapsed even further as he pled his case to an entirely uninterested Raven. “You want me to help you… build a pillow fort?” She replied coldly, as his confidence hit zero.

“Well, I…” he seemed to shrink in on himself. “… It sounds kind of stupid when you say it like that.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “It sounds stupid because it is stupid, Beast Boy. Why on earth do you need to make a pillow fort?”

Beast Boy awkwardly swayed on his toes. “I mean… I don’t need to, I just thought that it might be fun.”

Raven’s frown softened ever so slightly. While she wanted no part in this, she could at least acknowledge that he wasn’t causing any harm – except for her already-bruised bottom – and he really did seem to be excited about this, for some reason. Or, had appeared to be. Reluctantly admitting defeat, Raven released her telekinetic grip on the couch cushions.

“I’ll pass, but… I suppose there’s no harm in letting you have your fun.”

And just like that, a pure, childlike smile lit up his face again. “Thanks, Rae!” And then, immediately, he was overcome with awkwardness once more. “I… was, uh, actually going to ask if… well…”

Raven folded her arms and waited. It was typical of Beast Boy to push his luck like this.

“… Well, you don’t have to help, but… do you have any blankets or pillows in your room that I could-“

Raven raised a hand to cut him off, eyes firm and unamused. “If anything in my room touched anything that came from your room then I’m pretty sure I would have to burn it.” His smile died for just a second, but then returned, just a little smaller. It wasn’t as if he had been expecting a different answer, after all.

“Ok, well…” Beast Boy had never been good at finishing conversations, so Raven did it for him, turning away and picking up her book and herbal tea and making her way back to the kitchen. Now that she was aware of his endeavour, she noticed that several of the stools were missing; no doubt a part of his current venture. She shook her head to herself and took a seat on one of the few remaining chairs, and tried to get back into her book.

… Tried and failed, as she was distracted by that chipper idiot, trying to hang his duvet across the heads of several seats. She wasn’t annoyed as much as perplexed; although they were still on the young side, Beast Boy was seventeen by now. Much too old to decide to make a pillow fort, or so she would have expected. It wasn’t as if she had ever had the chance to do something so childish and immature… not that she would have wanted to, of course. But it was still an odd decision for Beast Boy to make, especially knowing that nobody else in the tower would be interested in-

The door to the Common Room swished open as Raven’s eyes widened in horror, realising a factor that she had left out.

Starfire gasped in awe and adoration as if witnessing Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving all at once. “FRIEND!” she announced in excitement, flying towards the makeshift pile of chairs and blankets. “What is this… enchanting display?”

Beast Boy was overjoyed at the chance to explain. “It’s a pillow fort, Star! You get all your blankets and pillows, and-“

He had Starfire at ‘pillow fort’.

She clasped her hands together and floated off the ground in uncontained delight. Before he could even ask, she had offered. “May I be allowed to assist you in this wondrous creation?”

Beast Boy beamed in glee. “Sure, Star! If you have any more blankets, then that would be a huge help; we could make an even bigger-“ He hadn’t even finished before she squealed in joy and swooped back out of the Common Room, heading straight for her bedroom, before returning seconds later, carrying a huge collection of pillows, cushions, blankets and… two mattresses. In one hand. In her overexcitement, she had decided on Robin’s behalf that he would be happy to donate his bedding to such a worthy cause.

“I hope that this is enough!” she declared, carrying the huge load forwards with such ease that she nearly clipped Raven around the ear with a mattress. “Oh, Raven!” she said as she finally noticed her other friend, “Would you also be interested in constructing a-“

“Th-that’s ok, Star!” interrupted Beast Boy, hurrying out of the fort and grabbing a handful of blankets to move over to the construction zone. “Raven’s got better things to do than mess around with us,” he laughed off nervously. Raven knew that she should have appreciated his consideration and maturity – relative to the situation, of course – but for some reason, it didn’t make her feel as happy as she thought she would have been.

Beast Boy and Starfire spent the next few hours working on their pillow fort, without disturbing Raven once. It was exactly what she had asked for. And for some reason she couldn’t quite put her finger on, she hated it.

.

Raven told herself that she wasn’t annoyed by their constant giggling. They were her friends. And they were happy! And it should have made her happy to see them happy, shouldn’t it? And yet, as Beast Boy and Starfire popped in and out of the fort time and time again, it began to irritate her more and more. Knowing that it wasn’t their fault, she tried to focus her attention back on her book… and failed, again. Although in her defence, while Beast Boy and Starfire were leaving her alone, some of the things that they got up to outright demanded her attention.

With the addition of Starfire’s considerable supply of blankets, they had needed a larger space for their work, so the fort had been moved in front of the currently half-assembled couch. Beast Boy had tried to lift the couch himself to see if he could move it back to give them some extra room, but it didn’t budge, until Starfire lifted the entire thing off the ground with one hand and easily placed it further away. It was easy to forget just how ridiculously strong she was, especially when she was utilizing that strength for the purpose of something as trivial as building a pillow fort.

The remaining kitchen stools – and chairs from every corner of the tower – had been borrowed to provide a stronger foundation for the quilts, blankets and duvets that were to become Beast Boy and Starfire’s ceilings. Robin and Beast Boy’s mattresses were the twin walls of a surprisingly large entrance. Raven couldn’t help but wonder what any of the team’s more dangerous villains would have thought if they had somehow gained access to their security footage, only to discover that the strongest member of the team by far, and a changeling who had gone toe to toe with Slade, were currently preoccupied creating a children’s play area – for themselves – with furniture and bedding.

Just once, she felt a sharp stab of envy as she heard Starfire’s laughter carry throughout the room. Raven didn’t know what she had been laughing at; it wasn’t as if Beast Boy had ever said anything that genuinely amusing. But what followed was worse. Whispering. Nothing demands your attention more than something that you can hear without hearing. And what made it worse is that she could imagine just what they were talking about. Her timidity was clamouring that they were obviously discussing how much they secretly didn’t like her, but she knew that this was ridiculous and unfounded, and she also knew that the truth was worse.

They were sharing stories. Getting to know each other. Everything that she wanted to do with them, but was unable to. Learning more about each other, and growing closer as a result. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t grown closer to any of them, but she found it so much more difficult than the others. After all, how could you open yourself up to someone when the mere act made it more dangerous for them to be around you? It was safer this way, for her to remain alone and aloof, observing as the people around her grew closer and closer and left her behind.

Before she knew what she was doing, she could feel her powers grip onto the edge of one of the kitchen stools, gently dragging it away, disrupting the foundations of their fort. She caught herself just in time, before another giggle from Starfire distracted her, and she yanked the seat away harshly.

The blanketed ceiling collapsed on them both, and Raven covered her mouth in horror, cursing her lack of control and how it had interfered with her friends’ fun. Starfire had shrieked in alarm, but Beast Boy laughed outright, and she soon joined him. Beast Boy’s head popped out of the side of the fort as he recovered the erratic item of furniture, blaming the problem on bad workmanship and repairing it without much fuss. Raven’s momentary lapse in judgement hadn’t even ruined their fun for a second, and she wasn’t sure if she was more upset about that than she would have been if they were currently screaming at her.

Once again shaking these negative thoughts from her head, Raven tried again – unsuccessfully – to refocus on her book, ignoring the cheery sounds of her friends.

.

Three hours later, Raven had barely made headway in her book and was ready to admit defeat. Beast Boy and Starfire didn’t come out of the fort nearly as frequently, having long since gathered all of the relevant supplies that they needed. She knew that the smart thing to do would be to retire to her bedroom to read in peace, but even with her closeted feelings of envy and misery, she still appreciated being in their company on some level. In her own room, there would be nothing to distract her from her book… or from the intrusive thoughts blaming her for being incapable of having fun.

Giving in, Raven decided to take a stroll, either to her room, or to the gym, or just… anywhere. She hadn’t seen Cyborg this morning, which meant that he was probably tinkering with the T-Car. Helping him always seemed to lift both of their spirits. Silently getting to her feet, she headed for the hallway without looking back at the stupid pillow fort.

And yet, just as she was about to leave… “Raven?”

Starfire had made her way to the fort entrance and called her name. Raven paused and turned slowly on her heels.

“Raven, would you please join us inside for just a moment?”

Once again, her emotions felt conflicted. She felt pleased to be acknowledged, but… that still didn’t mean that she wanted any part in their shenanigans, or at least, that was what she was still telling herself.

“Starfire, I really-“

“Raven, please,” Starfire repeated, “Just for a moment.” Her smile was warm, friendly and caring… but there was just a hint of forcefulness, to let Raven know that she wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer. And if Starfire wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, it was best to just get it over with rather than trying to fight her on it. Which is why, groaning in impatience, Raven reluctantly approached the entrance of their creation and tentatively got onto her hands and knees to follow Starfire inside.

Beyond the twin-mattress entrance, the fort seemed to split between left and right, and Starfire turned right, beckoning Raven to follow. When Raven emerged into the first ‘room’ of the fort, she had to admit, she felt legitimately amazed…

…

… at the sheer lack of progress that Beast Boy and Starfire had made with anything. How had they spent three hours on this? It looked as though the process of interior design had taken them a matter of seconds, and that was being generous.

Starfire completely ignored her shock, gushing over the project proudly. “So, this is the ‘main hall’ so to speak, and so far it contains a kitchen-“ Starfire pointed at a corner, completely empty except for an open packet of jelly beans, “-and a library-“ another corner, empty except for a pitiful pile of three tattered comic books, “-and over here, we are thinking of installing a gym!” Starfire finished excitedly. The final part of the room was empty, except for… nothing. There was actually nothing. Raven stared at Starfire in disbelief.

Starfire giggled nervously. “Well, as it turns out, the machinery in the gym was too large to dismantle, but I believe this is what is referred to as a ‘works in progress’, yes?”

Raven was unamused. “Fascinating,” she drawled, “Can I leave now?”

“Oh, no!” Starfire stated firmly. “While this area may appear somewhat… underdeveloped, that is because Beas- we decided to focus our efforts elsewhere!” she explained, trying and failing to cover her brief slip of the tongue. Raven grumbled as she had to crawl further into the room in order to give Starfire sufficient space to leave, but she also took the opportunity to steal a jelly bean from the ‘kitchen’ while no-one was around to see her.

Afterwards, she followed Starfire into the second room of the fort, and was surprised to find herself… surprised. The lack of effort in the first room was clear when it all appeared to have been placed here. To start with, while they were still all on their hands and knees like children, there was ample room for them all to be inside without getting in each other’s way. There was an entire mattress laid down for resting upon, several cushions, a sweet smell coming from somewhere, and Beast Boy appeared to be in the corner, fussing over the particular position of some kind of light source. When he turned and saw that Raven herself was present, he let out a surprised “Eep!” and knocked over the object he had been fiddling with; a purple lava lamp.

“Oh, uh, hey Raven!” he squeaked, obviously embarrassed. “Um… so, what do you think of-“

“Fort Snuggles!!!” Starfire announced proudly. Even Raven couldn’t help but smile at their choice of name.

“F-for the record,” Beast Boy was quick to interject, “We’re currently undecided on the name. I think ‘Castle Titan’ is a better fit.”

“Ah, but ‘Fort Snuggles’ highlights the primary qualities of Fort Snuggles in a much more succinct manner, does it not?” Starfire politely protested. “For instance, it is a fort… and it is filled with very many of the Snuggles.” Starfire’s logic was impeccable, as always.

Either recognizing that he wasn’t going to win this war, or just paying more attention to their guest, Beast Boy turned back to Raven. “Anyway... what do you think?” he asked shyly.

“It’s certainly… something,” Raven confirmed, the small smile from hearing Starfire’s choice of name having not yet faded from her face.

“Oh!” Starfire piped up. “How forgetful of me; Raven… this is your room.”

That had genuinely left her flabbergasted. She wasn’t sure if she should feel flattered or insulted that after refusing any part in this, Beast Boy had continued to keep her in his mind all afternoon. That is, she wasn’t sure how she should feel, but she knew damn well how she felt; warm, appreciated, and oddly charmed. Not that it would stop her from teasing him.

“My room?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Beast Boy’s nervousness was just beaten by his excitement. “Yeah!” he began, giving her a small guided tour. “This is Star’s mattress, because I figured you wouldn’t want to lay down on mine, and this little pile of cushions hides an important secret…” he announced cryptically, before reaching inside the pile and retrieving some hidden treasure; a small packet of dark chocolates. “It’s the ones you like to snack on at movie nights, when you think nobody can see you,” he explained with a hint of a smirk and an even bigger hint of a blush.

He continued on before Raven could even comment. “So, we wanted some nice light, so Star found this lava lamp – battery-operated – that we think adds a nice ambience,” Beast Boy overpronounced the word, clearly proud of having known a term that he considered fancy and intelligent, “And we wanted to get some scented candles, but… candles and pillow forts don’t mix, so we took one of the flowery air-fresheners from Cy’s car stuff.” He pointed towards the ceiling, where a little cardboard flower was dangling from a string, filling the air with the faint scent of bluebells.

“Oh!” he added finally, crawling over to Star’s mattress and pillow. “And even though we love the – ahem – ambience of the lava lamp, we wanted to make sure that there was still enough light to read, so…” he fiddled with something between the blanket-chair construction that made up the wall behind the mattress, and suddenly the room was flooded with light. Cursing to himself and fiddling with the adjustments, Beast Boy managed to turn it down to a more manageable level; he had somehow placed a torch in the perfect position so that anyone lying down on the mattress and reading would have a wonderful view of their book, without being blinded.

With the tour complete, Beast Boy’s nerves once again overtook his excitement. “So, uh… what do you think?”

Raven was truthfully surprised, not just at the effort that they – or more likely, he – had put in, but also at herself. She had expected to find herself saying that this was a nice thought, and then wanting to leave, but as she checked the status of her emotions, she could feel that they were all very sincerely flattered. Rage didn’t even want to tear it down, and Rude even vowed to hold in all of her burps while residing inside of… Fort Snuggles. Alright, Rage still wasn’t a fan of the name, but there was something cute about how silly it was.

“… I like it,” she admitted, hesitantly but genuinely, and Beast Boy’s face lit up.

“Oh, well… great! I mean, you can try it out if you want – I mean, you don’t have to, but-“ he stammered.

“No, I’d… like to try it out,” she confirmed, both to Beast Boy and Starfire, but also to herself. She was finally beginning to see exactly why Beast Boy had been so excited to work on this stupid, childish… enchanting idea. Raven wasn’t childish or immature, but she had also never had the chance to be. “So scoot,” she added almost playfully, making her way onto Starfire’s mattress. There was more than enough room to lie down, and she had to admit that the purple lava lamp provided a calm, relaxing presence. She reached towards the bag of chocolates to open it, only to find that to her surprise, it was already open. Beast Boy had been blushing in joy at her willingness to give Fort Snu- he meant, ‘Castle Titan’ a chance, but now he was back to blushing in embarrassment.

“Well, I… got kind of hungry, and I didn’t think you would actually say yes, so…” he trailed off, while Raven grabbed another chocolate with a smile and gently threw it in his direction, half as a projectile, and half to offer him another. It served both functions, bouncing off of his surprised face, before he grinned, picked it up and ate it.

“Do you want your book?” he asked. “I can head out and get it for you.” Beast Boy clearly thought that if Raven ever left, the chances of her willingly returning to Fort Snuggles – damn it, now he was saying it – would plummet. But a quiet alarm began to sound on Starfire’s wrist as she looked at her watch.

“Oh! I must depart to feed Silkie, and I have a few other errands to run, but I shall be back later! I will grab your book on the way out, Raven!” She was gone before Raven had a chance to protest; even though she was happy to give Fort Snuggles – damn it, now she was saying it – a trial run, she hadn’t intended to stick around for too long. But seconds later, the book that Raven had been reading came gently sliding into the fort entrance, and Beast Boy quickly handed it to the empath. He could tell that she was debating saying that she’d had enough… and grinned as she sighed, laid back on the mattress, and began to read. She squinted in the poor light of the lava lamp, and before she could even say anything, Beast Boy was fiddling with the torch to give her perfect reading conditions. She smiled gratefully, and satisfied that his work was done, Beast Boy turned to depart to the other room.

“Hey… where are you going?” Raven asked, catching herself halfway through the question and trying to sound as though she didn’t care.

“Oh, I’ve got my Game Kid here,” he replied, holding up the handheld console, “So I was just going to… play it in the other room. Don’t want to distract you or anything.” She appreciated his thoughtfulness, but for once, it wasn’t required.

“I wouldn’t mind the company,” she shyly admitted. “As long as you keep the volume down,” she quickly added more strictly. He smiled and considered sarcastically asking her if she was that desperate to spend time with him… and quickly decided against it. She removed a cushion from the chocolate-pile and threw it his way for him to use as a pillow, and a few seconds later, they were both enjoying their hobbies in each other’s company, in the safety of the pillow fort.

.

Raven had spent the last three hours trying to focus in the Common Room and had only made it past two chapters. In the next hour, she finished three, quickly losing track of both time and chocolates consumed, as she grabbed at the bag without looking, only to find in disappointment that it was now quite empty.

Beast Boy heard the rustling and paused his game. “Out of chocolates?” He asked attentively. Raven was slightly embarrassed, but his tone was helpful, as if offering to get some more. As if reading her mind, he continued “Want me to get you some more?”

“No, thank you,” she graciously declined, only for Beast Boy to grin cheekily and lean towards the now two-cushion pile. Retrieving the cushion from the bottom, he unzipped the cover and reached inside, revealing a second packet of chocolates.

Raven stared at the chocolates, and then at him, in surprise at his mindfulness. Beast Boy playfully wiggled his eyebrows.

“It’s not a proper pillow fort without a secret stash, right?” he gently opened the packet and left them on top of the cushion pile.

“… You really are an expert at this, huh?” Raven admitted with a smile.

“Not my first time,” Beast Boy replied. He was ready to return to his game, but he noticed that Raven was still looking at him curiously, and with a hint of expectation. He blushed just a little and placed his handheld console on the floor.

“When I was a kid…” Raven would have never admitted it, but she was always enthralled when Beast Boy talked about his past, “me and my parents moved around a lot. We stayed in a lot of nice – and not-so-nice – places, and most of the time, there was only one bed. Sometimes, none.”

He proudly looked around the interior of his latest creation. “When there was a bed, Mom and Dad would take it – they needed their rest a lot more than I did – and I was too big to bunk with them, so we used to make a little fort like this every night.”

He sighed in pleasant nostalgia. “We always joked about these elaborate plans, like ‘We’ll put a study here, the master bedroom here, we could probably fit a swimming pool in here!’ and it was always, like… two chairs and a blanket. But it always… felt like more, you know?” he reminisced fondly. He felt a little embarrassed, but Raven’s sincere, appreciative smile warmed his heart as much as his story had warmed hers. He wasn’t just recalling fond childhood memories, but he was creating new ones. With her.

“Well, it looks like all that practise paid off,” she praised sincerely. This was, without a doubt, the greatest pillow fort that she had ever seen in person. The fact that it was also the only pillow fort that she had ever seen was just a minor technicality. She thought for a second, and then smirked. “Although… I suppose there is one thing missing.”

She enjoyed his look of concern, before summoning a small portal directly to her room. Reaching through, she grabbed onto the finishing touch and retrieved it; her own duvet, followed shortly by her pillow. Beast Boy looked absolutely overjoyed – and a tiny bit worried – that she was making her own contribution to the fort. She hadn’t exactly sounded enthusiastic about the prospect earlier.

“Rae!” he reacted in delight, “Are you sure? I mean, my duvet is still in the fort somewhere, I-I could get rid of it, if you were worried about, um-“ Raven recalled her words from that morning. If you were worried that your blanket would touch mine and you would have to burn it.

Raven frowned at her own recollection. “No, it’s fine, I was just…” her emotions popped up, offering endless suggestions for her explanation. Moody. Crabby. Being needlessly critical and disparaging of what turned out to be an extremely uplifting idea, that last one had probably come from Wisdom. Raven shook their suggestions from her head and settled on “… joking around.” Still, she couldn’t help but notice as she spread out her duvet that Beast Boy seemed to be retreating from it, as if worried that any contact would upset her. Lacking the patience to reassure him, she simply levitated a section of her blanket over his body and then dropped it with a flump over his torso and legs.

They shared a smile as Raven returned to her book and Beast Boy returned to his game. Perfectly at peace, nothing could disrupt this moment.

The door to the Common Room swished open, and for a moment they wondered if Starfire had returned.

“Oh, what the hell?” Robin exclaimed in exasperation. Beast Boy twitched in alarm, his foot making contact with one of the hanging quilts that served as a wall, revealing to the less-than-happy outsider that the fort was currently occupied.

“I…” Robin was stunned, but immediately began eliminating lists of suspects. He had passed by Starfire not long ago. Cyborg would have struggled to physically fit in a pillow fort this size. And the idea that Raven had anything to do with this ridiculous excursion wasn’t even worth considering. “Beast Boy, for God’s sake, what the hell is this?” Beast Boy’s face fell in shame and horror. He had been so preoccupied with winning Raven’s approval, that he had completely forgotten to take… other people into account.

“I know it’s you, Beast Boy,” Robin groused, “You’re the only one here immature enough to do something this stupid. … Other than maybe Starfire, but with her it would at least be understandable. And I just saw her in the hallway!” Maybe it was because she had just shared a rather nice moment with the changeling, or maybe Robin’s words reminded Raven uncomfortably of her own initial assessment of his activities, but at the sight of his anxiety, Raven felt a small pang of sympathy, followed by a very large pang of anger.

“Beast Boy, I’m serious,” Robin sounded as if he was getting crosser, tapping his feet impatiently. “If you don’t want me to tear this thing down, you have five seconds to-“ Beast Boy gulped and began to move, only for Raven to grab his hand firmly and stop him. With a disgruntled look on her face, she clambered awkwardly over him and made her way to give a piece of her mind to the fool who had dared disrupt her relaxation.

Robin spotted movement from inside as someone appeared to be emerging from the makeshift fort. “Finally, I-“

His heart froze as the figure emerged on their hands and knees. Not Beast Boy, as he had been expecting, but… Raven?

“Is there a problem, Robin?” she asked unemotionally, except for a hint of anger.

It took several seconds for Robin’s mouth to stop flapping open and shut without speaking. When he finally regained control of his senses, he spluttered out, “Um… what are you doing?” He tried and failed to sound casual and non-judgemental; it would have been more effective if he hadn’t just called the creation of the pillow fort immature and stupid.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Raven replied sarcastically, before adding a mocking “… detective,” onto the end.

Robin could not have felt more like he had put his foot in his mouth. “I… uh… I mean…” he struggled to formulate a response.

Inwardly amused, Raven rolled her eyes impatiently. “Can I help you with something?”

“I – um – yes! I mean… I was just in my room, and I saw that my mattress was missing. So, I was wondering…” Raven glared at him intimidatingly, and he suddenly felt very unreasonable for asking for his bedding back. “… Well, could you just make sure that everything gets put back when you’re done?”

“Of course,” Raven replied calmly, a hint of annoyance as if offended by the implication that she needed to be told. “Starfire was helping me out earlier, she must have taken your mattress too… by mistake,” she lied, and they both knew it. “Are we done?”

Robin gulped and then nodded frantically, desperate not to offend Raven further. She fought off the urge to smirk and decided to put the boot in for good measure.

“Good, because I have urgent business to attend to back inside Fort Snuggles.” She shuffled back through the tunnel of blankets and cushions before she could fully appreciate the look of abject shock and bewilderment on Robin’s face.

“F… Fort Snuggles?!?” he repeated in horrified confusion, before rapidly retreating from the room, not quite sure what he had just witnessed but wanting to get as far away from it as possible. Raven arrived back to Beast Boy just as they heard the doors open and close again as Robin departed, and she saw the biggest smile on his face, moments before he burst into laughter.

“R… Rae!” he praised, “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen… well, heard,” he barely managed to say between laughs. She was pleased to see him so happy, and even more pleased to know that she was the direct cause of it.

“Well, he should’ve known better than to disrespect all of your hard work,” she replied haughtily, knowing full well that Robin had reacted more-or-less identically to how she had reacted earlier that morning. She wasn’t really upset at him, but hoped that standing up to his remarks served as an indirect apology for her own.

If Beast Boy had ever been upset at her, he didn’t show it. When his laughter had subsided, he began to move for the entrance, explaining “I’m gonna grab some water, need anything?” only for Raven to hold him back, summon another portal, and reach through, opening the refrigerator and grabbing them each an ice-cold bottle of water. As she closed the portal and threw one bottle to Beast Boy, he smiled in gratitude, albeit with the retort, “… Well that’s cheating…” before he returned to his game, and Raven to her book, blissfully content in each other’s presence.

.

Robin did his best to stay away from Fort Snuggles – damn it, now he was calling it that – for as long as he could, only returning briefly in the evening to grab some leftover pizza from the fridge and leave without disturbing anyone, but when he retired to his room at eleven o’clock and saw that his mattress was still mysteriously missing, he felt forced to take action. This wasn’t something that he could overlook, and he grumpily made his way back to the Common Room, opening the door to find the stupid pillow fort still there, and oddly enough, Cyborg and Starfire standing over it, both clearly amused at something.

“Hey, did they take your-“ Robin began, assuming that they were also both there to retrieve stolen bedding.

“SSSSHHHHH!” they both turned and reprimanded him simultaneously. Their harsh demands for him to keep quiet were considerably louder than anything that he had been saying.

“What-“ Robin started in confusion, pausing and then resuming, now whispering under the watchful eye of an irritated Starfire, “-what’s going on? Why are you both just…” he trailed off. Cyborg ignored him, still laughing softly to himself as his robotic eye clicked several times, clearly taking pictures of the sight he was seeing. Starfire’s irritation faded immediately as she smiled and lifted one of her blankets, which had been used as a ceiling to Raven’s room of the fort, allowing their leader to peek inside.

Raven was in a deep, tranquil slumber, her book now forgotten on the floor next to her, just out of reach of her right hand. She was mostly covered by her duvet, but while none of the Titans had ever seen her sleep in her room before, they could all guess – correctly – that she rarely looked as peaceful or as contented as this. Completely at ease with the world around her, with every emotion in perfect harmony… which was only made more surprising when Robin looked a little lower.

Uncovered by the duvet but asleep all the same, Beast Boy was resting on his back, half-on and half-off the mattress, with his head on Raven’s lap; with a blanket in between, of course. He had no blanket covering him, but he had inexplicably been covered in Raven’s cloak, which he clung to warmly with a safe, reassured smile on his sleeping face. There were only two possibilities; either he had stolen Raven’s cloak to use as a cover, which… well, not even Beast Boy was that suicidally reckless. But the other possibility is that he had been the first to nod off, and Raven had voluntarily removed her cloak and laid it over him, which seemed, if anything, even more unlikely. Or at least, it would have done, save for one final detail.

Raven’s left hand was placed lovingly on Beast Boy’s head, gently stroking his hair back and forth. Despite both participants being well and truly unconscious, Raven continued to run her fingers through his hair, occasionally scratching behind his ears as he purred in contentment and delight, subconsciously moving his head closer to the source of his safety and pleasure. It was clear to all that this was the best night of sleep that either had ever received in their lives.

Starfire silently lowered the blanket back down as Cyborg finished taking his snaps. He mumbled something about the Titans’ Christmas card being all sorted for this year, and then quietly passed by Starfire and Robin on the way to retire to his own room.

“Goodnight, Star. Goodnight, Rob,” he murmured sleepily on his way past, pausing for a moment to look back at Beast Boy and Raven’s unexpected choice of bedchamber. “Goodnight, Fort Snuggles,” – damn it, now he was calling it that – he mumbled with a chuckle before departing for good. Robin was hesitant to protest – he could see how determined Starfire was to leave them be – but… they were far from the only members of the team who needed a good night’s sleep!

“It would be improper to wake them now,” Starfire asserted calmly, leaving no room for persuasion.

“But… Star, how am I going to sleep?” Robin pleaded.

“I believe I still have some blankets and sleeping bags in my room. I’m sure that we can manage for the night.”

Robin looked in mild irritation at the pillow fort causing all of this trouble. “Star, that’s nice, but I’m not sure I-“

“Robin,” she interrupted, taking his head and looking at him in affection, and also mild disbelief that an individual with such amazing detective skills could be this dense. “I said that I am sure that I have enough supplies in my room for us both to remain comfortable for the night.”

The penny finally dropped as Robin blushed. “Oh… oh! Um, yes, let’s… yes,” he agreed bashfully, allowed Starfire to lead the way to her room as they left Sleeping Beauty and the Beast to enjoy the rest of their night.

.

When the rest of the team awoke the next morning, Beast Boy and Raven were already up, and out of the pillow fort that they had spent the night in, enjoying breakfast in the kitchen. Neither of them was in a huge rush to elaborate on their sleeping habits – or admit who had woken up first (they had both woken up on separate occasions in the night, realised where they were, and made the conscious decision to go back to sleep rather than move) – but neither of them seemed overly ashamed at the arrangement either. For the rest of the morning, the afternoon, and well into the following week, every time their eyes met, they would blush, smile, and remember the night that they had spent together, which filled them with an indescribable warmth.

Fort Snuggles may have been decommissioned later on that morning with little ceremony and minimal protests, but its legacy would continue for aeons to come. Not only for its legendary victory against the tyrannical despot, Robin (“Hey!”) but also for working to bring two lonely Titans together in such a way that they would never part again.