So much like the 100 drabble challenge that I started last year with Spaqua (that I fully intend to continue soon!) I'm going to do one with another pairing close to my heart, Aquaterra.

I actually wrote this drabble a few years ago on an old tumblr blog of mine, but I think it fits this theme well so I decided to publish it.

Aquaterra Status: dating

Precious

"I'm kinda in the mood for sushi," Tara commented offhandedly as she and Garth sat on their couch watching Shark Week, immediately earning her a pillow to the face from her boyfriend. "Hey!" she laughed, grabbing the pillow behind her and hitting him back.

"Come on, you know you never win these things." Garth laughed as he bopped her on the head once more.

"Yeah?" Tara hit Garth in the side.

"Yeah," he confirmed with a smirk, dropping the pillow and instead going in to tickle her.

"Oh come on!" she gasped out between giggles, laying down on her back as Garth leaned over her to continue the torture, "No… fair!"

"Hey stop that you two, there are innocent eyes present."

The two snapped up and looked towards the sound of the familiar voice. Roy Harper had let himself in, and he was toting his four year old daughter, Lian. "Did you forget we were coming?"

"Of course not," Garth laughed, sitting up. Usually Lian's Aunt Artemis (while Roy wasn't on good terms with Lian's mother, her sister was still a friend and fellow hero) would take care of the toddler while Roy was on patrol, today she had a family thing going on and wasn't able to watch Lian. So, being as it was Garth and Tara's night off, they were asked to take her.

A lot had changed over the past few years. The Titans had dropped the "teen" from their title since the majority weren't teens anymore (Roy, Garth, and Karen at 24, Tara at 22 and the twins at 19), and had moved out of the tower since they were all growing up and needed their own space. Another difference was the names. While Bumblebee, Terra, and Mas y Menos still went by their original aliases, Aqualad had become Tempest (he wasn't much of a lad anymore) and Speedy now went by Arsenal. However, they were still a team and whenever a villain came around they always fought together. They were family after all.

"Uncle Garth!" Lian squealed as she ran over to him.

"Hey, kiddo," Garth grinned, scooping the happy toddler into his arms.

"Anyway as much as I'd love to stay and chat with you two, I have to get going. Lian, make sure you go to bed on time and don't wait up for me, I'm going to be late, okay?"

"Yeah, Daddy. Bye," the toddler was already wrapped up in trying to braid her uncle's hair as he held her against his chest.

"Goodnight, angel. Gillhead, Goldilocks," Roy nodded at the two, making his way over to Garth to give his daughter a goodbye kiss.

"Unwanted Weasley," Tara saluted him.

As the ginger looked up from Lian and glared at Tara, he hissed in Garth's ear: "Don't let her break my daughter." And with that, he was out the door.

The Atlantean chuckled, shaking his head. They would just never learn to get along. "So Lian, what do you want to do tonight?"

"We're gonna play Barbies."

—

In no time, the bag Roy had discarded at the door when he'd walked in was emptied out, giving each of the three a doll to control. "You get to be Ken a'cause you're the guy," Lian explained, handing her uncle the sole male doll. "And you," she turned to Tara, "You get to be Skipper a'cause Barbie is all mine."

"Skipper is the evil villain," she told them glaring accusingly at the little doll. "But instead of Ken being the hero, that's Barbie. Ken is the dam- uhm- the dams…"

"Damsel in distress?" Tara supplied with a giggle, "Lian, a damsel is a girl."

"Well then he's just in distress," the toddler shrugged. "Now make him distressed!" Lian commanded.

"Alright, alright," Garth laughed. She'd definitely inherited her father's impatience. "Barbie! Barbie help me!" He made the doll cry, raising its arms in the air. He made Ken run around, frantic.

"Silence, boy." Tara as Skipper hiss at her captive. "No one escapes Evil Doctor Skipper's lair."

As the line was spoken, Lian had Barbie roll up in her Hess fire truck that she'd brought over. "We'll just see about that."

—

After a while, Lian grew tired of the dolls. "I'm bored," she announced, tossing Barbie to the side. "What is there to do at your house?"

"Well… we could do noodle art?" Tara suggested to the child, receiving a questioning glance from Garth. Having not grown up on land, the Atlantean had no idea what noodle art was, or why the child, who was now eagerly bouncing, would be so excited over it.

"Garth, get the macaroni out," Tara instructed. Her boyfriend did as he was told, still puzzled, as she got out the glue, glitter and construction paper.

He sat and watched the two girls glue noodles to their construction paper, each making their own separate design, Tara creating a flower while Lian made a face. The only word Garth could think of to describe it was interesting; they didn't do anything like this where he was from.

Garth saw the mischievous grin Lian had when she grabbed the tub of glitter, but what was about to happen didn't register with him until it was too late. "Yay!" Lian cried, throwing the tube into the air so that glitter scattered everywhere. "It's raining!"

"Lian," Garth gasped, snatching away what was left of the glitter. "You just made a huge mess. We don't do that, okay?"

The toddler just nodded her head, giggling at the sight of Tara. The blonde was covered in glitter- the majority of the carton seemed to have fallen on her. "I'm going to go shower," she grimaced, showing remarkable self-control for her; Tara had always had a soft spot for Lian. "Get all this glitter off me. Do you think you could handle making dinner?"

"No problem," he replied as she headed off towards the bathroom. "Well kid, it looks like it's just you and me." Garth set Lian on the counter as he got out the stuff to make grilled cheese.

He'd barely begun cooking the first one when Lian asked abruptly, "Can I be the flower girl at your wedding?"

"My what?" Garth asked, incredulous, turning away from the stove for a second.

"You're wedding," Lian repeated with a nod. "To Aunt Tara. I want to be the flower girl."

"Lian, we're not getting married, we're not even engaged," he shook his head in amusement as he turned back to his cooking. Kids.

"But you love each other right? That means you should get married. And let me be the flower girl," the toddler tacked on as an afterthought.

"Maybe someday," Garth told her, scooping her sandwich off the pan and onto a plate. He handed it to the girl before starting his own dinner. "Loving each other isn't the only thing you need for a marriage, okay? It's a big commitment, and we're both still pretty young."

"Okay," Lian nodded sagely, "But when you do, I get to be the flower girl."

"Deal," Garth grinned at his goddaughter just as Tara walked into the room.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothin'" Lian smiled, taking a large bite of her sandwich.

—

When the knock on the door sounded that night, Tara tried to ease herself off the squeaky loveseat with as little noise as possible; trying not to wake the two sprawled out on the couch asleep. While the three were watching The Lion King, Lian had fallen asleep on her uncle's chest, and he'd passed out not long after.

"Shit!" she hissed in a whisper as she stepped on the toy truck that had been cast aside earlier in the day. With Garth asleep, she'd had no motivation to clean up. Thankfully, she made it to the door without another incident.

"Sup, Blondie," Roy greeted with a smirk as she opened the door, stepping past her.

The red head stopped when he reached the couch, chuckling softly in amusement at the sight. "How precious."

"They fell asleep while we were watching The Lion King," Tara explained, carefully extracting Lian from the brunette's arms and handing her to her father.

"Tell Fishdick thanks for taking care of her, because I know it was all him. You couldn't even take care of a pet," Roy whispered, earning him a stuck out tongue. "I'll get her stuff another time," he told Tara, and slipped out the door.

She cast a glance at her boyfriend on the couch. The plan had originally been for Tara to wake Garth up and drag him to their bed when Roy was gone so that they could sleep, but all of a sudden the blonde was overcome with fatigue. Waking him up would be too much effort. Instead, she just crawled up next to him on the couch, she was small enough to fit, and fell asleep.