AN: I do not own Teen Titans.
Chapter 9
A few days later Gar's feet had healed and he was walking around again. Everyone was quite happy for this, since all he did was complain while they were all bandaged up. Now that he was of use again, he was outside mowing the yard. They didn't technically have a backyard, since it was sand, which cut usual mowing time by half.
He walked up and down along the lawn with the old mower. Yes, they had a gas powered one, but Gar refused to use it and wouldn't let anyone else use it either. He said it created too much pollution. So he went into town and was lucky enough to find an old push mower. Needless to say, Gar was put in charge of mowing.
The front door opened and out came Dick, holding a tall glass of cold lemonade. "Hey, Gar," he said, getting the green headed man's attention. "Time for a break."
"Aw, you made me lemonade?" Gar laughed.
"Shut up," said Dick, handing the glass over. "Kori made it for you."
"Ah," said Gar and he took a sip. His face instantly puckered and he spat it back out. "Oh my God! That's the sourest thing I've ever tasted! Didn't she put any sugar in this?"
"She said that this is how she likes it," Dick shrugged.
"You knew that this was pure lemon juice and you gave it to me anyway?" asked Gar. Dick only smirked. "You asshole!"
And with that, Gar lunged at Dick and the two began to wrestle on the partially mowed lawn. Within thirty seconds Dick had Gar in a position he couldn't move from and won the brawl.
"You should know not to take me on in a fight by now," said Dick, picking the grass clippings off of his shirt.
"Yeah yeah," said Gar, doing the same. "But, know this, you have to sleep at some point."
"That's why I have a lock on my door," said Dick. "I know how you love to booby-trap our rooms for fun."
"Yeah, that's true," said Gar. "But I happen to know that you don't always spend the night in your room."
Dick went a little pale and said, "What're you talking about? Of course I do."
"Oh, I'd have to disagree," said Gar with a smirk. "You see, my dear Dick, I live above the entire second floor, including Kori's room." Dick knew he was in trouble now. "And I can hear everything that goes on below me. That includes music, talking, moaning, the gasping of a lover's name..."
"Alright, I get it!" said Dick, thoroughly embarrassed at this point.
Gar smiled and said, "Just remember, dude, Vic loves blackmail like this."
Dick frowned and headed back into the house. Kori was still in the kitchen, sipping some of her lemonade. She smiled upon seeing him.
"Did Garfield enjoy his lemonade?" she asked.
"Kori, we're not going to your room anymore," said Dick.
"Oh?" she said. "Why not?"
"Just, trust me, it'd be best if we went to my room," said Dick. He knew if she found out Gar had been hearing them she'd be horribly embarrassed.
Gar got a drink from the hose, to both quench his thirst and to get the sour taste out of his mouth, and got back to mowing. He felt quite good knowing he'd finally gotten some decent dirt on Mr. Richard Grayson. He just finished another section of the lawn when Vic pulled in. He got out of his beloved car and grabbed two bags of groceries in the backseat.
"Wow, I can't believe you're actually doing something useful!" Vic laughed.
"Hey, we've all gotta pull our weight, right?" Gar chuckled.
"Just make sure you don't get heat exhausted," said Vic. "It's pretty damn hot out here."
"Eh, don't worry about me," said Gar. "Like I've said before, I love the heat."
"Yeah, but the heat can only love you so much before it kills ya," said Vic.
"That's true," said Gar, wiping the sweat off of his brow. "Hey, did you get me some soy milk?"
"Yeah, I got your damn soy milk," said Vic. "And another bag of mixed salad."
"Awesome," said Gar. "I'm already starving."
"Well get back to work," said Vic. "I want you nice and tired for game station tonight."
"Heh, getting scared I'm getting better?" Gar said proudly.
"No, I just love how shitty you play when you're exhausted," Vic said with a smirk and then headed inside.
Raven closed her book and stretched her back out. She got off of the window seat and placed the book back into its place on the shelf. She'd been working on her novel nonstop and had decided to take some time off to read. Now she was going to go to the bathroom and then get back to work.
When she finished she washed her hands and looked out the window, which looked out over the front of the house. She saw Gar outside mowing the lawn, something even she was surprised about. He didn't seem the type to do anything chore related. She watched as he paused and lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat off of his face. And then he took his shirt off altogether. She would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't impressed by his body. He was lean but definitely not scrawny. In fact, she had to admit, standing there in the sunlight with the sweat glistening off of his body he actually looked kind of ho-.
She jumped away from the window, shocked by her own thoughts. No, absolutely not. She did not just allow her mind to consider the embodiment of annoyance attractive. Damn it, what was wrong with her? Here she'd spent a good portion of her life suppressing any natural feelings and this man had already infected her mind. Who the hell did he think he was? She suddenly felt very angry, stormed out of the bathroom, and back into her room.
Within the hour Gar finally finished the lawn and was ready for a break. Once he put the mower away he sprinted towards the ocean and dove in, shorts and all. The water was just perfect and cooled him off instantly.
"Ah, this is the life," he said as he floated on his back. Of course, a wave soon came and nearly drowned him. He quickly crawled out of the water and decided he was cool enough. Unfortunately, he now realized that he had nothing to dry off with. He'd have to call for help.
He walked up to the house and yelled, "Hey, I need a towel!" He waited for a few seconds and then called out again. "Hey, can anyone hear me?" He waited again and still didn't receive an answer. He groaned and began to walk around the house, calling out for assistance. "Jeez, I'm gonna be dry by the time someone hears me," he grumbled to himself. "I know you're all in there! Come on, I just need a towel! Is that too much to ask for?"
"What the hell are you screaming about?" snapped Raven, sticking her head out of her non-broken window. Gar still hadn't replaced the glass he'd broken.
"Oh, Raven, thank God," he said, glad that someone finally heard him. "Could you get me a towel?"
"Why don't you just come in and get one yourself?" she asked, doing her best to avert her eyes from his body without looking like she was.
"Cuz if I do that then I'll track water and sand in and I don't wanna clean the floor again," said Gar. "So could you get me a towel? Please?"
Raven sighed and said, "Fine. Go to the deck and I'll hand you one."
"Yes! You rock!" he said and ran off towards the back of the house.
Raven felt very angry now, though she knew she really had no reason to. He really hadn't done anything wrong, other than being ill prepared, but she just wanted him to give her a reason to scream at him. She knew that it was because she was still flustered about the thoughts that had crossed her mind when she'd seen him an hour earlier without his shirt on. And, since he still wasn't wearing one, she knew she'd have to do her best to keep herself composed.
She arrived at the glass sliding door and saw him standing on the deck, smiling that stupid smile of his. She frowned and slid the door aside. "Here you go," she said and threw him the towel. Once it had left her hand, she'd immediately turned around and headed back towards the stairs.
"Awesome, thanks," he called after her and began to dry himself off.
"Whatever," she muttered.
Gar noticed that her attitude seemed a little colder than usual, but when he saw Vic entering the kitchen from the basement he forgot all about her. "Hey!" he said.
"What?" asked Vic.
"I've been screaming out there for help!" said Gar.
"Why? What happened?" asked Vic.
"I needed a towel," said Gar.
"Well, sorry, but I can't hear anything when I'm down there," said Vic.
Gar sighed and said, "Well, where's Dick and Kori then?"
"Probably in one of their rooms," said Vic.
Gar growled and finished drying himself off and cleaning his sandy feet. "I swear, if they're fooling around I'm gonna burst in on them and scar them for life," he said.
"You'll probably end up scarred for life, too," said Vic.
"Not if I keep my eyes shut," said Gar. "I'll just throw the door open, scream, and shut it again. That'll scare the hell outta of them."
"Gar, let it go," said Vic. "Just cuz you're not getting any doesn't mean you should freak out on them."
"Look who's talking!" said Gar. "You're not getting any either."
"Yeah, but that's cuz I'm taking the summer off from girls," said Vic.
"And who says I'm not?" said Gar.
"You haven't had a girl in a year and a half," Vic laughed. "If you don't want a girl by now then I think you should come out of the closet and give the guys around the beach a chance."
"I'm not gay, I've just got high standards," said Gar.
"Man, I don't even wanna get into what's wrong with that little statement," said Vic. "Just leave Dick and Kori alone, okay?"
"Fine," Gar grumbled. "But this is strike two for them. One more and I'm gonna destroy this little fairytale they're living in."
"Strike two? What was the first strike?" asked Vic.
"You don't wanna know," said Gar, wanting to keep that piece of information in his back pocket for a while. "Well if you need me I'll be up in my room."
Raven sat on her bed with a small notebook that she'd had for years. Inside were the rules that she lived by. Rules she'd written long ago. Rules that she'd created to make sure she lived a life without pain of any sort. And whenever she broke one of these rules she would read them over and over again to punish herself.
Rule 10: Don't flaunt your talents
Rule 9: Friends are only enemies in the making so don't have any
Rule 8: Never rely on anyone but yourself
Rule 7: Don't care about what people think of you
Rule 6: Don't draw any attention to yourself for any reason
Rule 5: Keep quiet and only speak up when it's absolutely necessary
Rule 4: Don't let your intelligence go to waste
Rule 3: Only help those who don't have the means to help themselves
Rule 2: Don't ever think about the past
Rule 1: Feelings and emotions are pointless, do not surrender to them
She read them over and over again. She was furious with herself for breaking so many of the rules. Lately she'd been showing her anger, raising her voice, flaunting her talents, and allowing strange feelings to cross her mind. Had she forgotten why she'd made this list? She needed to live by these rules or she'd lose control of her entire life.
Gar reached up and opened the door in the ceiling, allowing the ladder to unfold. As he finished setting the ladder up he could hear soft talking. He paused and listened a little harder. It was coming from Ravens room. He squeezed himself around the ladder and pressed his ear up to her door.
"Feelings and emotions are pointless, do not surrender to them," he heard her say again and again.
"What the hell's that about?" he said to himself. He squeezed back around the ladder and headed up to the attic. "She sure is weird."
