Disclaimer: If I owned TT the show would be very different.
AN: Richard and Kori used to be best friends before she moved away. Coming back several years later to join him in high school, she finds that time changes people. AU.
More added characters!
Mas Y Menos are Mas and Menos lol.
Chapter 4: Baby sitting.
Garth cursed loudly as he ran down his stairs in nothing but a towel, dripping wet. The phone was ringing and he had been forced to jump out of his warm shower to go and get it. He turned sharply and slipped on the wooden floor; sliding to the other side of the room with a crash. Now limping, he hurried to snatch up the phone.
"What!?"
"Jeeze, Garth. Calm down." The boy could practically hear the girl on the other end smirking.
"Karen? What the hell?"
"Well, somebody's not in a good mood." She teased.
"I was in the freaking shower!" He hissed, extremely annoyed. "And I just slipped and banged my leg against the fish tank."
"…" There was a pause. "…Are you naked?"
Garth pulled his hand pack to stare at the phone. Bringing it back to his ear, he snarled at his friend. "I'm wearing a towel, you dirty minded pervert. Now, what do you want? I'm getting cold."
"My, that creates one hell of a mental image." She stopped laughing when he made a growling sound. "Ok, ok. Look, my Mum got me roped into this baby-sitting thing tonight. The kids are at my house and they're freaking insane! They seem to be permanently hyper, only speak Spanish and could give Wally a run for his money with how fast they move." Garth couldn't help but be amused at the tone in her voice.
"So?" He asked, leaning against the table and his hand immediately slipping. Scowling, he straightened. "What do I have to do with any of this?"
She sighed. "I still have a few hours to go and I wont make it out alive without some help. Think you can come over?"
Garth wanted nothing more than to say no, put the phone down and go back to his shower. But his friend was practically begging now, and he couldn't say no.
"Fine. I'll be ten minutes."
Karen squealed. "Oh, thanks Garth! I owe you big time -" They both winced as a crash was heard and then Spanish yelling. They both groaned.
"Why me?" Garth asked.
"Rachel's busy and Wally is probably more hyper than these two." She paused as two voices yelled her name. "Gotta go, see you soon!"
Garth sighed as he put the phone down. How did he get wrapped up in these things?
Ten minutes later, exactly on time, Karen's doorbell went and she opened it to reveal Garth, mostly dry, excluding his still damp hair. She smirked at him.
"Aw, no towel?"
Dark eyes narrowed dangerously. "God, your worse than the fan-girls…"
She smacked him on the arm playfully. "C'mon in. I'll get the twins."
He sighed as he shut the door behind him. He removed his coat and hanged it up, turning back round he saw Karen coming out of the kitchen, holding a small hand in each of her own.
"Ok. Garth this is Mas -" She pointed to the one on her left, the small ginger-headed boy grinned and waved. "- And Menos." Menos mimicked his brother. Garth quickly made a note of their differences - which wasn't many - they both wore identical clothes and had the same number of freckles. But Menos had a missing tooth. Also, Mas wore a plus sign on his cheek, while Menos wore a minus.
"Hola!" They chorused loudly before running off.
Garth raised an eyebrow. "Your right; they are fast. But I doubt they could challenge Wally. Be serious Karen."
She growled. "Oh yeah? They're nuts, trust me!"
"I think your over-reacting."
The girl snorted. "Lets see you calm them down."
He grinned at the challenge. "Fine." The twins ran passed him and he grabbed them by the backs of their shirts. Picking the squirming boys up, he grinned at Karen. "You got any Disney movies?"
Rachel snarled, throwing the phone down. She had tried calling all her friends but had no success. Karen's phone was being answered by a young Spanish boy, Garth's had been left of the hook - he did this when he was annoyed or frustrated… so it happened a lot - and Wally... Well, he had picked up and was in the middle of saying hello when he was stopped abruptly. There was silence and then a moan. Rachel had hanged up as fast as possible with a vow never to call him again.
She had even called Kori's house but hers went straight to the answering machine. Sitting up suddenly, she pulled out a slip of paper with Kori's mobile number. She had completely forgotten about it! A small smile came on to her face she punched the numbers in and it rang.
She looked down at the three kids she was watching, they were quiet, for once, because they were eating dinner. Rachel knew that they would soon be up and about in no time and she would have a hard time watching all three. She adored the kids, really, and they loved her. But three of them was a handful. Finally, the mobile was answered. However, it wasn't Kori.
"Hello, you've reached Kori Anders' phone." There was giggling in the background. "Kori cant come to the phone right now as she's flirting with Dick by the counter. May I take a message?"
Rachel blinked, recognising the voice. "Garfield?"
"… Rae?"
She scowled. "Rachel." She said forcibly. "Why the hell are you answering Kori's phone?"
"Ah, like I said, she's flirting with Dick. … How do you have her number?"
Rachel rolled her eyes. "She gave it to me, duh."
"Dude!" Rachel winced. "I didn't know you knew Kori." The dark girl waited for him to stop laughing. "So," He said conversationally. "What's up?"
"Just pass me to Kori."
He made a sound, as though thinking about it. "She seems a little busy right now… What do ya want? I'll tell her."
"Not that it's any of your business, Garfield, but I was wondering if Kori would mind helping me baby sit." She snapped down the phone and was about to hang up when he spoke.
"Hey, no worries! I'm great with kids. Tell me the address and I'll come over instead. Kitten's just left -" There was cheer from someone, Rachel had her money on Roy. "- So Dicky's free to make the moves on Kor."
"And I wouldn't want to interrupt their time together." Rachel said sarcastically.
"Exactly!" She could just see the toothy grin on his face, slightly-too-sharp fangs poking out. "So, c'mon. Gimme the address."
"… I don't know…" She bit her lip. She did need help and he said he was good with kids. She sighed. "Fine."
He made a whooping sound and yelled for a pen. "Ouch! Geese, Roy, your aim is unnaturally good!" He scuffled around for a napkin and then write own the address she recited to him. "Ok, cool. That's not to far. See you soon!"
Hanging up, Rachel groaned. What had she just gotten herself into?
Rachel was surprised at how fast Gar got to her house. She had only finished speaking to him five minutes before he was knocking at her door. He grinned widely, sharp teeth flashing.
"Hey."
"…Hi." They paused and then Rachel moved out of the way to let him in. The three kids, intrigued by the new boy, came over.
Gar squatted down in front of them, his head reaching the face of the eldest kid. "Hey there." He said, his voice purring slightly. "What's your name, sweet-heart?"
The eldest was a girl, blonde hair pulled back into pony-tails and her hand upwards as though holding something. "I'm Melvin." She said, before motioning upwards. "And this is Bobby."
Rachel stifled a groan. 'Bobby' was Melvin's imaginary friend. Gar seemed to think for a second, before straightening and facing 'Bobby'.
"Well, hi Bobby!" Rachel stared. "I'm Gar, nice to meet ya!" He looked down at Melvin, who was smiling at staring at Gar in awe. "Can I shake his hand?" Melvin nodded silently and watched as Gar held his hand out, pretended to tighten it as though gripping someone else's and then shook it a few times. Pulling his hand back, he winked at Rachel.
Melvin giggled. "Bobby says he likes you."
"Well, I like him to." Fangs flashed again as he bent down to kneel in front of the two younger boys. "And you two are…?"
The elder of the two, a red head who was sucking his thumb and holding a blanket, spoke around his mouthful. "I'm 'immy. An' 'his is 'eether." He pointed at the smallest one, just a baby, with a tuft of blonde hair and wide innocent eyes.
Gar blinked. "Timmy and Teether?" The boys nodded. "Ok." He stood again, stretching upwards in a motion that reminded Rachel of a cat. "Well, guys. I'm Gar." He slung an arm over Rachel's shoulders. "Rae's friend."
Rachel raised an eyebrow at the intimate action. Melvin giggled again. It was going to be a long night.
Victor slammed his large hand down onto the table, mobile in it. The remaining people there jumped at the sudden noise. Roy arched an eyebrow from where he was slumped on the table, head resting on his crossed arms.
"Err… dude? What the hell?"
Vic sighed. "Sorry. Jinx still aint answering her phone."
Terra shrugged, not happy since her boyfriend left her to go see another girl. And Rachel, the girl she hated, no less! "Maybe she has it on silent?"
"Maybe…" The boy sighed again. "But she was meant to meet us here over an hour ago! What if something's wrong?"
Jade snorted. "Please. If someone's tried something with Jinx then I'm more worried about the guy. Jinx can hold her own, Vic."
"I know… I know…"
"You know what?" Victor looked up to see Dick and Kori coming back over to the table and shook his head at his friend's question.
"Nothing man, don't worry."
As they sat, Kori looked around. "Where's Gar gone?"
Terra made a noise like a cat. Jade smirked, running a hand through Roy's hair who, eyes closed, scooted a little away to just out of her reach. She frowned, eyes narrowed at her boyfriend before turning back to Kori.
"Rachel called your phone and Gar, being the weirdo that he is, picked up. Apparently she needed some help baby-sitting an he offered to go seeing as you were… unattainable."
Dick raised his eyebrows. "So wait, Gar's gone over to Rachel's - a girl he barely knows - to help her out?" Vic and Jade nodded and Dick let out a whistle before grinning at Terra. "Jeeze, this must be driving you nuts. We all know how you feel about Rachel."
Terra snarled and picked up a napkin to tear it into small pieces. Kori blinked.
"Err… What is wrong with Rachel, exactly?"
Dick's blue eyes went wide, realising that Rachel was her friend. "Ah… nothing! She and Terra just don't get on." He shrugged with a nervous chuckle. "Some people just don't click, ya know?"
"…Like you and that Xavier guy." It wasn't a question.
Dick ran a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. "Well… yeah. But the girls aint so obvious about it." He coughed and quickly changed the subject back due to the glare Terra was giving him. "Besides, Rachel is a little… different for our taste." The blonde girl smiled her thanks while Kori narrowed her eyes.
"Different?" Dick swallowed hard.
"Err… not in a bad way…"
"Then in what way?" Kori's green eyes flashed in the light.
Vic cleared his throat. "He's only saying that Rachel doesn't fit in with us. She's a little too…" He paused and the others jumped in, excluding Roy as he seemed to be asleep.
"Freaky?" Jade said.
"Bitchy, more like." Terra muttered, scowling.
Dick spoke softly. "Dark?"
Victor nodded. "Dark."
Kori stood up. "Well, Gar doesn't seem to think so and I agree with him." She snatched up her back, ignore the pleading look that Dick was giving her. "I think I should go. Bye."
"Kori! Kori, come back! Kor!" Dick yelled after her as she stalked through to the door. It opened and closed quickly, shutting of his pleas. Vic shook his head.
"Give her some time to cool down, dude."
Dick pulled a face and slumped down in his chair, arms folded.
Terra poked him in the side, friendlily. "I'm sorry, Dick."
His anger faded away as she pulled out the big blue eyes. He sighed and sat up, slipping an arm round her shoulders. "Don't worry 'bout it Ter. Kori'll get over it."
Terra hugged him back, arm's round his waist, glad he wasn't mad. Outside, somebody saw this exchange. Kori pulled a sad face as she watched. Dick had gotten over her leaving awfully quickly…
"Hey cutie."
Kori twisted round with a gasp, coming face to face with a boy. He had on a black jumper, hood up, and looked oddly familiar… Recognition hit her. Xavier.
He looked passed her to see Terra cuddling up with Dick and let out a low whistle. "Whoa, he moves on fast eh?"
Kori muttered something about needing to get home and went to go passed him when he stepped in front of her.
"Lemme give you a ride then."
He pointed over to a bike, similar to Dicks. Kori gave a small smile.
"Thanks, but no."
"So you know the way home from here then?" Kori stopped and groaned. Dick had taken her the opposite way from her house and she had no idea where she was. She turned to look at Xavier who grinned and held out a black helmet. Looking passed him and through the window, she saw Dick kiss Terra on the top of her head. Anger flew through her and she impulsively reached out to take the helmet.
They were in a class room. Why they were in school at all, he had no idea but he recognised the room to be one of the study rooms in the library. They were on opposite sides, though due to the smallness of the room they were still quiet close, with the table to the right and the heavy windowless door on the left. There were no window's, the lights above them being the only source of light.
Roy glared. Garth glared back. Green eyes met black through narrowed lids and the swimmers surprisingly thick black eye lashes. Both looked away, turning their death-stares to different corners of the room. Roy shifted his weight and lent back to lean on the wall, sighing loudly and closing his eyes.
The carpet in the room was thick and soft, Roy didn't even hear Garth move towards him until he felt the boys breath on his face. Green eyes snapped open to stare at the other boy. Garth had a hand pressed to the wall on either side of Roy's face, trapping the red-head.
"We need to do something about this, Harper." Garth growled out, the intensity of his voice making Roy shiver involuntarily. "We wont get anything done if we cant even look at each other without wishing the other would keel over and die."
Roy tilted his head. What the hell was Garth talking about? Get what done? Roy couldn't think. His breathing was laboured and his chest heaving as he desperately tried to get air to his head so he could understand what the hell the other boy was talking about. It wasn't fair. Garth was breathing more easily, through his mouth though, like Roy.
Something passed between them, making both their eyes go wide and their breath's hitch, Garth's finally becoming as deep and frantic as Roy's. Removing a hand from the wall, Garth moved it slowly and shakily towards Roy's face. Cool, pale fingertips touched his face, caressing his cheek bone before sliding down to curl around his neck. Roy's own hands moved as well, rising to slip around the boys waist and pull him closer.
Their breath intermingled before they drifted closer, before their lips touched in a soft kiss. Roy couldn't breath at all now. All he could think of was the boy in front of him and the way their lips were joint together, fitting perfectly. Garth sighed and Roy wanted to as well, but all that came out was a muffled whimper. The kiss was soft, light and so full of meaning and passion that they were both trembling when they parted.
Garth's other hand came up to run through orange hair, threading through the well placed strands carefully, as not to move them from their spots. Their eyes met again as Roy lent in to rest his forehead against the other boy. Garth's lips slowly parted again.
"Roy…"
"Roy!"
The boy sat up straight, eyes wide and breaths deep. He shook his head, looking around at where he was. He was still in the restaurant, with loads of people still around; most of them watching him. Looking around the table he was on, he saw that it was missing one. Vic was still there and Dick was, his arm around Terra, all three were looking at him worriedly. Someone laid a hand on his cheek and he sucked in a defensive breath.
Abruptly, Jade pulled away, not used to Roy being so tense. She bit her lip and placed her hand back again, this time on his arm. He jumped and turned to look at her. She gave a comforting smile.
"You ok? You fell asleep, Roy."
"I fell… I…but then… Wait, what?"
Vic chuckled at his confusion. "Man, you need to get some sleep. You fell asleep in public."
"It's all those late night archery training sessions, I'm sure." Dick smirked at his friend. "Seriously, if you wanna learn how to shoot in the dark just wear a blindfold!"
Roy blinked, then rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "…It… I -" He took a breath. "I was asleep?"
Jade nodded, looking worried. "You whimpered, we figured you were having a bad dream so we woke you up."
Roy's cheek's went red. "Err… yeah. Yeah, bad dream. Woke me up. Thanks."
Terra raised an eyebrow at his broken sentences. "God, Roy. Maybe Dick's right, maybe you should train in the day instead."
Roy laughed nervously, still looking startled and still blushing slightly. "Heh, yeah. Yeah, I should just turn the lights off in the gym next time huh?" He stretched and closed his eyes, snapping them back open when his dream flicked in front of him. "Ah… We're missing some one…"
"Kori." Dick said, frowning slightly. "She… err… we…" The black haired boy sighed. "She had to go."
Roy nodded, not really listening and checked the time. "Damn, I need to go pick up my brothers." He stood and then paused when he saw he was in the middle of the round booth. Groaning, he ducked down, crawling underneath and expertly avoiding Dick's legs when they 'accidentally' kicked out. Standing, he said goodbye, waved and paused as if to say something. Still a little out of it, he shrugged and mumbled good bye again before walking out.
Karen jumped up of the couch, moving to the door and opening it while checking the time. The twins parents were a little late, but that was ok because she, Garth and the kids had ended up watching a movie, complete with popcorn. He'd kill her if she said it, but he was really good with the brats; laughing at their jokes despite the fact that he knew no Spanish, talking to them with a kind teasing voice and even allowing them to cuddle up with him during the movie. She decided not to mention the picture she had gotten of the three smiling and hugging.
"Hey, sorry I'm running late but -"
Karen blinked. "Roy?"
"Karen?"
Garth chose to enter from the kitchen then. "Kar are the twins -" He stared at the two in the door way. "Harper?"
"Garth!?" Roy's voice squeaked and he went paper white to bright red in record time. Mas and Menos, wondering what was going on, followed Garth from the kitchen. They saw Roy, ignoring the scene before them, and tackle glomped him.
"Speedy!" They yelled, crashing into his stomach and wrapping their arms around his waist. He coughed as the wind was knocked out of him and blushed as he looked at the two teens.
"'Speedy'?" Karen repeated, smirking.
"Ah… It's a nickname…" He muttered before looking down at the two. "¡Usted tuvo mejor de comportado! Encontrar a babys sitters para usted consiguen duramente." Karen's and Garth's mouths fell open as he spoke in broken Spanish and he quickly changed to English. "You two got all you stuff ready?"
"Si…" Mas and Menos chirped. He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, right. Go get your bags." The two small boys pouted, walking up the stairs and muttering. Speedy gave the two baby-sitters a lopsided grin, avoiding Garth's gaze at all costs. "…I, err… hope they weren't too rough on you."
Karen shook her head, snapping her self out of her daze. "No, no… You know Spanish?"
He flushed. "I live with those two. I had to learn some…"
Garth blinked. "Those two are your brothers? How…?"
Hesitation passed over Roy's face, then he shrugged. "I'll have you know, fish stick, that we are all adopted."
Garth looked down, embarrassed. "Oh… Sorry."
Roy shrugged again, blushing deeply at just being in the same room as the other boy. Karen seemed to sense this as she looked between the boys before moving to call up to the twins. Seconds later they were all gathered in the hallway. Roy pulled out his wallet and counted out a few bills.
"Here, this should cover it eh?"
Karen flipped it through. "Yeah, it's a little extra though…"
"Keep it. God knows that if you can put up with these two you deserve it." Karen blinked, before thanking him.
He nodded. "Whatever…" There was a pause, broken by Mas and Menos whining to go home. "Ah… yeah, yeah. We're going." He turned to Karen, ignoring Garth as much as possible. "Thanks… Err… guess I'll see you tomorrow."
He turned and left, his eyes drifting on Garth for a little longer than necessary, making the raven-haired boy swallow hard. Karen shut the door and shot a confused look at Garth.
"Well," She said. "That was weird."
Rachel shut the door, sighing and leaning against it. The kids had just been picked up, a little late as usual, and she found herself not nearly as tired as she usually was. Gar hadn't been lying when he said he was good with kids. He hadn't yelled or sworn when Teether bit him, nor argued with Timmy when he had a tantrum, he hadn't even gotten annoyed when Melvin asked him again and again to play 'patter-cake' with 'Bobby'.
Said boy came out of the kitchen, having called his Dad and asking him to pick him up. He grinned wolfishly at her and she couldn't help but give a small smile back. Gar flopped down on her couch, closing his eyes contently. Rachel moved hesitantly towards him, sitting down slowly on the pillow next to him and tilted her head.
He opened one green eye. "Hmm?"
Rachel paused. "Thank you." She said, avoiding his gaze determinedly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smile. Not the normal large animal-like grin he usually had, but a soft and completely genuine one. He poked her in the arm lightly.
"Anytime Rae."
"Rachel." She said, mostly out of habit, turning to face him.
He still had that smile and nodded. "Rachel." There was a not-so-uncomfortable silence before he spoke again. "This was cool."
She gave a short laugh. "Yeah, never thought baby-sitting the brats would be kinda fun."
He laughed, turning his head to face forward again. "So… When are you next looking after them?"
She blinked. "Err… I look after them every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday after school and then whenever their parents ask me to, like today wasn't a scheduled day but their Mum asked me to do an extra one."
"Oh, right. That's cool…"
Rachel cleared her throat. "You know… Those three really seemed to like you. And, as much as I hate to say it, this was…well, it wasn't boring. You could, if you wanted to, come and help out sometime again."
His eyes brightened. "Really!?" She nodded and he made an almost squealing sound. "Cool! Err.. I mean, yeah. I'd like that."
She smirked, feeling that she had been a little to nice today. "Good, but if your going to be around me, please do something with your hair."
He pouted. "Aw, your just saying that 'cos you've been soft this whole evening."
She raised an eyebrow and then turned as a car beeped its horn loudly outside. "That'll be your Dad?"
He nodded and went to the door, opening it, he paused. "This was actually really fun." He smiled at her. "You're quite cool, ya know, when your not being all moody or weird." He chuckled not noticing how her cheeks went pink at the half compliment. "See ya, Rae."
She didn't bother to correct him.
AN: So very, very, v-e-r-y long :dies: Hope you all enjoyed it, even though hardly anything happened. A few things.
- I know I said we'd see Garth swim and his fan girls but the chapter went on for too long so that can happen next.
- We didn't see Wally or Jinx is this chapter :cries: But they were… busy. coughTotallyGettingItOncoughcough.
- Yes, I made Mas and Menos Roy's brothers. I was going to have them as Wally's, because of the whole running thing, but I thought it'd be better if they were related to some one from Titans East. Also Roy, Mas and Menos all have ginger hair.
- This is NOT - I repeat NOT! - a Dick/Terra chapter. They are only friends. She didn't want him to be mad, he wanted to show that he wasn't. The whole kiss-on-the-head thing was purely friendly. Not romantically. Though, the image of those to so close and comforting each other is so cute.
- Almost naked Garth and a dirty dream from Roy. Not a bad chapter. Though, it's the worst so far in my opinion.
Translations:
Hola! - Hello!
¡Usted tuvo mejor de comportado! Encontrar a babys sitters para usted consiguen duramente. - You two had better of behaved! Finding baby-sitters for you is getting hard.
Such a long chapter! My hands hurt, laters!
R n R, if you please.
x
