Subject 93-483-946
Chapter 6: Feeding Garfield
All the Titans were gathered around the medical bay; Robin with a tray in hand that was full of food that, thankfully they'd managed to convince Starfire not to make any of her alien food, was actually normal food.
"I think I should go in alone," Robin said as they were preparing to enter the room.
"But why is that, friend Robin?" Starfire asked, her green eyes blinking innocently at him.
"Yeah man why," Cyborg added.
"Well remember the way that he reacted in the cage? He was TERRIFED of people and it will
probably just make it worse when he wakes up to a room full of people."
A look of understanding came over the small group and they nodded.
"In that case you should go in alone then, friend Robin," Starfire agreed as she opened the door for him with a smile.
Robin smiled as he walked into the white room and sat down next to the small boy's bed. The occupant of which looked like he was having a nightmare. After about a minute of watching Garfield
whimper and hug the blanket tightly to himself, Robin decided to wake him up. He gently brought his hands to the green boy's shoulder and shook him slightly to wake him up.
Almost immediately after he had done it Garfield's eyes flew open and with claws bared cut Robin across the shoulder. It wasn't a big or deep cut but Robin hadn't been expecting it and so his first response was to back away a few feet, a gloved hand holding his shoulder.
A few seconds later Garfield seemed to come back to reality and backed away in fear as he tried
to get off the bed but failed due to his not quite healed injuries. Noticing this Robin walked over to the other side of the bed to help but as soon as the boy noticed Robin he curled into a ball and started whimpering. As Robin began to left his hands to his shoulders in order to try and calm him down the boy began to shake and said in a small ,scared voice, "Please don't hurt me; I'm sorry."
"It's ok I'm not going to hurt you," Robin said soothingly in a desperate attempt to calm him down. Garfield looked up at Robin with a slightly shocked expression on his face but quickly buried his head in his knees as if trying to hide from the Titan. "I brought you some food," Robin said, trying to make conversation.
At the mention of food Garfield raised his green eyes to Robin and asked, "What did you put in it?"
Robin frowned in confusion. "Nothing," he replied. "It's just some chicken soup and crackers with a glass of milk. Be grateful we didn't let Starfire get a hold of it otherwise you could have wound up eating something that was purple and moved."
"Why did you bring me food?" Garfield cocked his head to one side in genuine puzzlement as he looked at Robin.
"Well for one thing you're skinner than a stick and for another it is lunch time," Robin answered.
"Lunch time?" Garfield repeated. "What is lunch?"
Robin stared at the boy for a few seconds before answering and said, "It's when you eat a meal in the middle of the day. That's what lunch is."
Garfield nodded then asked, "What is this…chicken soup with crackers and milk that you are referring to?"
This time Robin sat the tray of food down on a nearby table and said, "Chicken soup is made from chickens. It's what everyone eats when they're sick."
"Chicken," Garfield's eyes lit up then he suddenly turned into a green chicken, making Robin shriek and thank the gods that he had already sat the tray down.
The door opened and the other Titans burst in, Starfire and Cyborg preparing to fire while Raven merely looked bored. "What's going on in here?" Cyborg demanded then caught sight of the chicken. "Where did that come from?"
The chicken let out an alarmed squawk and quickly changed back into Garfield who started shaking and whimpering again.
Starfire let out a gasp. "My new friend Garfield can turn into a chicken? Can you turn into anything else?" she asked eagerly.
"Sure," Garfield nodded slowly then turned into a dog.
Cyborg's eyes were practically bulging out of his head as he said, very slowly, "Garfield can turn into animals?" at Robin's affirmed nod he continued, "That is so cool! What else can you turn into?"
"Leave him alone," Raven interrupted, having caught sight of how overwhelmed the green boy looked as he returned to human form. "He needs to rest and he can't do that if we keep bothering him. Robin, you can stay here and make sure that he eats. The rest of us will be in the main room." With that she turned and levitated out of the door, Cyborg and Starfire behind her.
It was with great satisfaction that Robin noticed Garfield's shaking subside once the others had left. He walked over to the table and picked up the tray. He carried it to the bed and placed it in front of the boy.
Garfield cautiously leaned forward and sniffed the soup. Hesitatingly he reached into the bowl with his finger and touched the liquid. Letting out a yelp he cradled his finger and glared at the bowl.
"It's hot," Robin said. "Blow on it; that should cool it down a little."
Garfield nodded then blew on the soup. He touched the soup again and licked it off of his finger. A small smile appeared on his face and he transformed back into a dog and began licking it with great enthusiasm. Within seconds all of the soup and crackers were gone along with the milk and a satisfied green kitten purred contentedly before falling asleep.
Robin raised an eyebrow and picked up the empty tray and left the room. "Looks like we're gonna need some more chicken soup," he muttered. "And crackers too."
A/N: Sorry this is so late. Please review and let me know what you think!
