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Beast Boy had never seen so many vegetables and fruits on their counter. God knew Robin and Cyborg only ate produce when they were close to scurvy. He had never witnessed Star or Raven actively cooking or eating the colorful assortment he was seeing. He personally had only had the ones he could name when Rita was on health kicks, so now he was going to have to ask her for the recipes cuz it would be so lame to let this score go to waste.
“Hey Rob, thanks for the extra goodies!” His fearless leader hummed back at him from the Ops computer. “I mean, I’m going to have to look up some recipes and I’m not sure I’m even going to like any of these but, it’s still appreciated my dude!” Another noncommittal hum. It was enough. Beast Boy went over to start a full grocery investigation, knowing Robin would come back to them in a couple of hours. Zucchini and carrots he knew, but he had no idea what to do with all the pumpkin-like gourds. He took a picture with his communicator and sent it off to see if Rita and Larry could educate him in the ways of the kitchen.
The next week it happened again. A veritable cornucopia of things he never saw the other Titans eat, but all things he would be happy to try with some help. This time he went to Star, ready to spin his sister into a big hug. Not only had this opened up a safe topic to talk about with his former team, he felt like he had never been so healthy. And now he felt he could understand why Robin had bought so much that first time. If his sweet, thoughtful sister had mentioned it to her boyfriend, then Robin would do anything to please her.
He found Starfire working out with Cyborg and hailed her so she wouldn’t be startled and drop her two ton lifting load. “Star!” She and Cyborg both paused to watch the little guy lope towards them, huge smile on his face. “Hey, gimme a hug!”
“Of course friend Beast Boy, I love physical affection and bonding between us teammates! We should do it more often!” Beast Boy plucked the alien out of the air and into a squeezing hug, which she joyously and carefully returned.
“Friend, while I love this spontaneity, I must question why you so exuberantly sought me out for this ‘hug’?”
“What, you think I didn’t see all the extra produce you brought in for me? I just so appreciate it!” Beast Boy let her float back up, still smiling brightly up at her.
Cyborg was wiping down his bench and perked up. They didn’t hate the fresh produce section, they were just teens who spent most of their budget on chips, chocolate, and ramen. Normal junk food. Cy and Robin were the ones who made sure protein of some sort made it into the kitchen. Star didn’t even crave edible combinations of food. So why would she have gotten anything for Beast Boy? How would she have known what to get or even if it was something that humans ate? She constantly tried to bring back garnishes and other inedible items.
But then something niggled at his memory, sure he had seen two figures flying off on that errand…
“Oh then you are needing to extend the physical affection to friend Raven! She was most helpful in picking out delightful treats for you!” Beast Boy’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, eyes going comically round. “Raven?” He repeated under his breath. Starfire beamed and nodded in confirmation.
That’s what had bothered Cy, Raven going out on a type of shopping trip that wasn’t just bonding for her and the alien princess. And then Starfire's phrasing hit him and he needed clarification for his rapidly forming theory. “You mean treats for all of us? Cuz I didn’t see any fancy bacon for me Star, I’m hurt.”
Starfire turned to him still twinkling,“Oh do not tease me so, I merely found what I could on the list you gave me friend. Raven seemed to have memorized a list from you Beast Boy, she confidently led the way during our trip.”
Beast Boy’s eyebrows stayed up while he processed this new information. It was reminiscent of being back in Nevermore and learning that Raven didn’t hate him. He knew Raven was his friend, but none of his other friends had bothered to grab more than his ‘gross’ meat substitutes. No one had thought out of the box to find things he could have that were new to him and according to Rita, finally getting all the vitamins and fiber he needed. Balancing his diet seemed a bit too thoughtful for a friend, and Raven being the one in question made it even more so. Not to say that she wasn’t a thoughtful teammate and friend, but this was throwing Beast Boy for a loop. She didn't balance her own diet, but seemed to care about his? He snapped back to the present moment and tabled that so he could ponder on it in private later. And give the time needed to quash the spark of hope rising in the back of his mind.
“Well, I’m still happy you went along with her choices then, I’m excited to try everything.” Beast Boy tried to keep it smooth enough that Star wouldn't notice his pause. She clapped her hands together in joy and began asking after the names of everything he planned to try, clearly unaware of the years-old chasm she had opened up in Beast Boy.
Cyborg was shifting into high alert. His week for groceries was coming up, and he had a prediction, a scientific postulation if you will, that he was excited to see come to fruition.