The next month flew by in a blur. If you had asked the young vet at the Jump City Animal Shelter how he was doing, he would have given you an easy grin, a thumbs up, all while leaving you a pamphlet on the importance of spaying and neutering pets. You had to admire the man, he was dedicated to his job.
If you had asked the owner of the Nevermore Book Nook how she was doing, she would have given you a begrudging nod, and the both of you would have stood in awkward silence that didn't go anywhere and would have made things worse until you decide to break the tension and run off silently weeping about how you really couldn't impress anyone.
If you had asked the Boyfriend of the roommate of the Nevermore Book Nook's owner, however...
"Richard J Grayson, for God's sake, you're a 30 year old man, what are you wearing?" Raven stated flatly as she arrived home a few days after her first cooking lesson to find the man wearing what seemed to be a giant fuzzy cocoon. It had red and purple pom poms and patterned orange and purple all over.
The man squeaked, which was something rather hilarious in itself, and tried to take the sweater off, but it was too late. Raven had, unfortunately, recognised the handiwork of the sweater that her roommate had decided to do up for a video for her YouTube channel awhile ago.
"... I'm not gonna ask any more questions, Dick." Raven said slowly, "Just take the sweater off, and we'll go have dinner, okay?"
The man nodded dumbly as he tugged the sweater off his shoulders, his hair a little droopy. That, and the sweater he was wearing, made it evident that he was really missing Kori. The two of them had never really been apart for more than a month before, so this must have been killing him.
"This is pasta." She had said simply, opening up a Tupperware box, placing it in front of Dick. "Eat up." She ordered as she went to open up a can of wet cat food for Azar's dinner.
Dick did as he was told, as many were wont to do when Raven Roth told them to do something, despite the fact that she could clearly see him hesitating. He had been on the receiving end of many a Kori food creation in the past, and as such was known to eat many things put in front of him with minimal fuss or questions, but also the subject of many food poisonings. It was ...rather pathetic really. But Dick was made of sterner stuff, and his guardian had once made him take a course on creating pills and homemade antidotes against common poisons.
It was said before, but it had to be said again: Dick Grayson had a very eclectic home education.
Dick paused mid-chew. "This... is good." He said, and Raven was simultaneously proud and hurt at the response. "Did you make this?"
Raven reached down to pick up Azar's dish bowl, giving it a quick rinse and soap to prep for the day's dinner. Azar, used to the cleaning, took the opportunity to stroll into the kitchen, meowing pleadingly for food. "Just the sauce." She admitted, "I burnt the pasta."
Dick raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?" He asked, questioningly.
"Yes." She said bluntly, giving the bowl a quick wipe down before placing it down on the floor,wishing that Dick would be a good friend and shut up now.
He didn't. "So did..."
"Yes. " Raven bit out, as she ripped open the pull tab of the canned cat food with a vengeance that even she didn't really expect. "Garfield helped."
The only positive happening from the conversation was the fact that Dick was smiling now. The beginning of cons, Raven predicted with a wave of exasperation, was that Dick was smiling now.
"Ohhhhhh spending more time at Garfield's and making good pasta, huh?" A small smirk curved his lips, reaching his eyes which crinkled.
"Quit it." She said shortly as she dumped the can of pink sludge onto Azar's food bowl. The cat, who had been nuzzling up against her ankle as she did so, turned around to ignore Raven as she started licking and then eating the wet food. Azar always ate like there was no tomorrow. Raven had wondered if this had anything to do with her being on the streets and not having enough food before reaching the shelter and she then shook her head, realising that she for some reason was imagining her cat having a Dickensian lifestyle.
"It sounds like you might really have a thing for him."
"Shut up."
"In fact, judging from what you said-"
Raven slapped him on the back of his head, and the man let out a dignified oof of pain.
He was right though. Raven had, very very very unfortunately, told him that she might have had a problem.
Not that she remembered telling him. According to Dick, and the voice recordings did corroborate with his statement, she had admitted that she thought Garfield Logan was, of all things, cute.
Of course she had admitted it when they were both on their bloody recon at a bar. Of course. Fucking life choices.
"Any more mention of me having possible feelings for my cat's veterinarian, which was done UNDER DURESS, should not be admitted into evidence, Richard J Grayson." She growled. "I cannot be trusted when I'm drunk, that's what the recon's for."
Dick laughed in response. She knew he wouldn't fear her anymore. Damn friendship and the way it made people like each other to the point when vague empty threats didn't make them tremble in fear. Maybe she should throw Azar at his face, get her to claw it up a little. Azar had decided really early on that she did not like Dick and had scratched him up once or twice when he had tried to pet her. Of course, on the first time they had met he had stupidly gone to pet the fluffy tummy fur, so as Raven had watched Dick scream in pain when Azar bit his hand, she had agreed silently that he had deserved that.
It didn't make sense. The day after the first cooking session, Dick and Raven were at a bar, conducting the usual experiment when apparently, drunk Raven had happily admitted to Dick that she had a thing for someone. According to Dick, Drunk Happy Raven had then proceeded to wax lyrical on the vet's many features, from his jawline to his hair and even his ears. Then, Drunk Sad Raven had proceeded to start sobbing because their love was as doomed as the Titanic and the iceberg because that ship literally sank and before Dick was able to comfort her in her time of crisis, she had then slapped Dick on the back of his head because he was not reacting right when she was upset and crying. If it were not for the fact that Raven had seen the voice and video recordings , she wouldn't have believed it.
Drunk Raven had some issues, Raven thought. Though she did approve of smacking Dick up the back of his head, she'll buy herself cheesecake for that.
"I'll be honest," Dick mumbled, eating another forkful of pasta. "I think he likes you too."
"Don't be ridiculous," Raven said dismissively, as a vibration indicated that her phone was buzzing. Taking her phone out of her pocket, she flicked the screen to check her notifications.
Speak of the devil. Before she was able to read the message, her phone was plucked out of her hands by a grinning Dick, who had quietly dropped his fork, moved from his chair to where Raven was standing in a matter of seconds. The man's skills at pickpocketing was honestly bested by no other.
(Had to be emphasised: extremely eclectic home education. Bruce Wayne was an eccentric billionaire who taught his ward amazing things, and still managed to get him through to Yale. Raven sometimes wanted to curse at them both for their extreme privilege and lifestyle.)
" 'Hope you got back okay, tell me how the pasta's like' " Dick read out, face splitting grin indicating that this to him was the happiest moment of his day. "He's worried about your welfare!"
"As any decent person would walking home in an urban city in the evenings." Raven said evenly, the top of her ears not going pink as they were wont to do during an embarrassing fact revealed about her.
"Hey, I'll be the first to admit it," Dick said lightly " I like this guy, and if you really like him, I think you two will be good together. Except well, if he breaks your heart I can always cut it out for you."
And he could do it too, Raven once saw him carve out a pig when he went undercover as a butcher to expose the meat industry who were substituting good pork with generic pigs fed with hormones.
Eclectic home education.
" Thank you." Raven said drily, though a little touched.
" Also Kori could beat the shit out of him, she's getting real good at MMA now," Dick grinned. " She could pin me down in less than 2 minutes in the ring-"
" No mention of anyone pinning anyone down," Raven blurted out quickly. She had once walked in on the both of them during an MMA session and she had gotten a good look of Dick with one hand under Kori's sports bra as they made out on the mat, which she had then proceeded to try and drive out of her mind with a combination of meditation, prayer sessions with sage and incense to get rid of the bad vibes, and symphonic metal. "No more!"
Dick smiled but then his face dropped the smile just as quickly, and Raven, unfortunately, saw the tell-tale sign of Dick Grayson moping around for Kori Anders again. She sighed.
So admittedly it was pity that led her to invite Dick to stay in the apartment in Kori's room, with Kori's permission of course. Because the man, despite his stoicism and rather strange obsession with crime and MMA and gelled hair, and his obsession with seeing Raven embarrassed and crushing on her vet, was a sentimental fool who missed his girlfriend and evidently his slick apartment in the city was too lonely and cold for him.
Besides it was helpful to have someone around the house to try the leftovers she took home from hanging around Victor and Garfield's place, and for someone to give Azar attention when she was away for cooking lessons, even if the cat didn't like the other man. And it was good for the sessions of recon for someone to take her home and monitor her behaviour. She could live with that.
Garfield was not a happy man, for a very good reason.
" Man, you moping?" Victor demanded, walking in the door to find Garfield lying upside down, legs hanging over the back of the couch, head lying off the couch seat. " You gotta quit that shit, BB, green ain't a good look on ya."
Garfield, who didn't wear green hair (anymore), glared at his best friend. "Green is my colour, how dare you." He retorted, but there was none of the fire, no will in trying to fight back.
Victor, the bastard, only laughed at him.
"Is this about Raven again?" Victor asked, opening up the fridge door to take out a bottle of milk.
In the last few cooking sessions, which was going on for the last month, three times a week, Raven was progressing very well, cooking wise. Sure she might have accidentally burnt the pasta and melted the cup of sugar in the microwave, but she was definitely improving, proving her skill was less in solid food and more in liquids like soup, gravy, and sauces. Raven was strangely adept in making things taste good provided you gave her the right impetus.
"It's like potions," Raven had said drily. "I can stir these, practice making liquid poisons. Learn to make cyanide at some point, and put it in almond cookies. You'll never figure it out."
Garfield's laughter only died when Raven did not seem to be laughing alongside him. It was only later when he realised this was her version of a joke. Still, he had decided to stay away from anything almond related for a while.
Once he got her sense of humour, he was beginning to like her more and more, and what she lacked in cooking she made up for it in listening and learning, and the last few lessons were getting better and better.
"So we only burnt 2/3s of the cookies this time," said a relieved Garfield, who was just grateful the kitchen didn't burn down and everyone else in the room was safe. He brushed MC Nugget away, who was trying his best to sniff the cookies that were caught in the disaster.
Raven, who was currently staring at the last batch of cookies that didn't look burnt with suspicion and frustration. "I can't do this." She declared.
"Hey hey!" Garfield tittered. "None of that quitter talk! These cookies," (he was waving at the 5 cookies that had somehow survived the fire, now on the cooling rack.) "aren't on fire so it stands to reason that they might be stronger cookies!"
Raven's only reaction was a scoff, so Garfield took a bite out of one cookie to prove a point.
"See? Tastes normal!" He grinned.
Raven eyed him suspiciously, and about to retort before Garfield shoved the half eaten cookie in her open mouth.
Raven reluctantly bit down on the cookie and chewed. She paused and threw an accusatory look at Garfield. "You cheated." She said.
"What?!" Garfield's eyes widened.
"You must have... switched the cookie batter or something." She said. "This tastes-"
"Normal." Garfield said. "They're a bit dry, probably due to the fire, but they're okay. "
Raven stares at him in disbelief.
"They aren't the best, but they're okay." Garfield grinned. "Raven, we might make a cook out of you yet!"
"Whatever," Raven rolled her eyes and Garfield pretended that he didn't see her smiling just a little.
"I mean, squirt," Victor was still talking, and Garfield faintly realised that Victor had been talking the entire time. Whoops. "You like this girl, I get it. Feelings and all. But you were the one who told me that you didn't want to be messin' with someone's girl. This attitude ain't helping."
Garfield grumbled something that sounded like a swear word but Victor ignored him. That was okay. Garfield could ignore him right back. Hah! Take that, ridiculously tall Friend! Vengeance was his. But that meant that he couldn't ignore his thoughts and the fact that Victor had nailed the nail right in the shed. (Was that even the phrase? Garfield didn't go to school to become an English man. He shouldn't have to know all the proper words.)
The fact of the matter was that Raven was a happily attached... was that even the right phrase? Happily? Did Raven even swing that way? Could she feel more than two feelings at once? Fuck, Garfield didn't realise he could do that and now he was at the receiving end of two feelings at once. This was doing his head in a little.
No, he was not happy. For a good reason. His head was doing weird complicated things to his heart whenever he spent time with Raven Roth and he wanted them to stop conspiring to give him a heart attack cause Raven had a boyfriend and they were so seriously in love that they were rooming together. And Garfield had only found that out when he had dropped Raven off after walking her home earlier that day...
"You're joking." Raven's sardonic voice didn't manage to hide the small smile she had on her lips. They were strolling back to Raven's apartment after a cooking lesson, Raven holding a flask full of tomato soup that she had made from scratch.
"Fo'real gurl!" Garfield gestured, with all the grace of a lanky herd animal. He was being charming which he did with anyone, do not judge him, "I have a magical gift, and it's the ability to talk to the animals!"
"Are you seriously claiming you have the same powers as a Disney princess?" Raven snarked back. "I don't think you have the figure for a ball gown."
"Speak for yourself!" Garfield laughed. "At a very old Halloween party a few years ago, Victor bet me 30 dollars that I wouldn't be able to pull off a gown and I showed him! Wait, I have pictures-" he said, shuffling through his phone to find the photos on his Facebook account, and producing them with a flourish, letting Raven scroll through a photo album labeled, " 2016 Halloweenies".
He looked, dare he say it, gorgeous.
"You looked absolutely ridiculous." Raven drolled.
Garfield gasped audibly. He had never been so insulted and continued to make shocked, gaspy noises that denoted how horrified he was.
Raven merely rolled her eyes.
" You're an idiot." She said.
" A beautiful one!" he shot back, cocking a hip sassily. He had learned the pose from a friend of his who taught him how to sashay in heels and had convinced him that it made him look gorgeous especially when wearing the dress. And it did help him pull off the gown, even Victor had conceded on that point and had thrown in another ten bucks.
"This is the best you've ever looked, admittedly," Raven mused, and fuck did this woman just make fun of him damnit how much more amazing can she get maybe he'll run away with her one day to get coffee at their favourite bistro yes it was their favourite one now, nevermind the fact that they had only been there once-
"I'm a good looking man," Garfield had replied, and she had snorted but damnit, she was smiling in that little Raven smile she rarely gave him.
They had both reached the building where Raven's bookstore was at, and Garfield had pretended to ooh and ahh over Raven's short explanation that this was her bookstore, and that she lived in the apartment upstairs. She didn't need to know that he had been there before a few times, cause that would have seemed like Creepy Behaviour and he was not a stalker, damnit.
"Do you want to see Azar?" Raven had asked hesitantly. "It'll be good for her to get used to you since you're her vet and all."
" Is this just you wanting confirmation on my animal communication skills?" he'd teased. "If you really wanted a demonstration, you should just see me and my baby boy-"
" You and your, 'baby boy' are having some sort of incestuous relationship and he doesn't know any better since you're the one raising him." Raven snarked. "If you really talk to animals-"
" I'm a lovable Dr. Doolittle, honey," he mock-growled.
"Then you should be fine. Come and say hi."
And he did cause damnit, he loved animals, and Azar was a good, if really quiet, kitty. It would be nice to see her outside of the shelter where she didn't get poked and prodded and harassed by the sounds and smells. Besides, and he didn't want to admit this, he really wanted to see Raven's place.
They had trudged up the stairs and Raven had unlocked the door, flicking the lights on and getting greeted by a small ball of black fur. Garfield had immediately gone down on his knees to say hi and offer his hand, Azar had stiffened and used her nose to delicately sniff him, before she decided that she had remembered him and gone forth to bump her head against his proffered hand, purring as she did so. Garfield grinned and picked her up, to which Azar had no objections to, and was, in fact, nuzzling his face. He crowed about his prowess. Raven had rolled her eyes but let him. That was a win to him.
In fact, he and Raven were having a great time. Azar had let him carry her and he shifted the cat in his arms so she felt more comfortable, which led the cat to start purring like a car. He had then complimented on her bookshelves that went from the floor to the ceiling, stuffed full of hardcovers and slim volumes of poetry, and crystals arranged on the shelves. It was unexpected and yet so Raven. No photos were available around the apartment, and Garfield knew that Raven and her roommate were living together but still had no idea what the roommate looked like. Which was actually making him feel kind of guilty, really, but Raven herself was so full of mystery that it had made sense just talking to her and not about the roommate. He was pretty sure that starfirekori on Instagram was her Best Friend, but where was she? That had made no sense...
"I've got orange soda, you okay with that?" Raven asked and his attention was drawn back to the woman currently opening the fridge and holding out a can of said soda. And everyone knew he didn't say no to soda. It was the best of the sodas. He had grinned, accepted the soda, and he was pretty sure he said something corny cause Raven had rolled her eyes but then she excused herself to go to the bathroom and asked Garfield to make himself feel comfortable. And that was what he was planning to do, all while cuddling a black cat that loved him cause all animals did, and drinking a can of orange soda.
He looked around the room and somehow or other, he really loved how strangely homey it was. Raven clearly didn't like sunlight, judging by the blackout curtains she had installed in the living room but her living room was anything but gloomy. Sure there was the odd knickknack that hinted towards a darker nature, but for the most part, Raven had cushions. He didn't know if witches liked cushions, but Raven did, and he couldn't fault against someone who liked plush goodness. Her couch was comfortable, and as he sat back against it, he could already imagine falling asleep on the couch clutching one of the cushions and it had made him feel even more comfortable. He wasn't bothered by the numerous books, cause it gave the home a very lived in air, and the television was not the most high tech but Raven still had Netflix, apparently. The wooden floors were clean, and someone, probably not Raven, had added a rug made out of clashing colours of green, orange, purple, blue and red on the floor. There was no coffee table. Garfield spied two yoga mats at the corner of the living room and concluded they belonged to Raven and her roommate.
"You don't have many shows here, how is that?!" Garfield called out to Raven as he heard her walk back to the living room, her feet padding light against the wooden floor. " In fact," he continued as he scrolled through her Netflix with a sense of rising dread and horror. "You don't have anything on your list!"
Raven tilted her head in curiosity, with no outward expression on her face. " I don't need to, though?" she queried. She looked a little askance. " I honestly don't watch that much Netflix…"
" Come on, you can totally tell someone's personality through their Netflix choices!" he said, and it was this that led him to spend an hour on Raven's couch, fighting over the choices to add to her list of shows that she had to watch on Netflix. Raven rolled her eyes so far back that Garfield nearly thought she was going to go blind, but she had let him add a few shows on her Netflix account, stopping him only a few times to make sure he didn't have a chance to add trashy reality tv shows on her queue. ("BUT SAY YES TO THE DRESS!" "Don't make me hit you.")
In fact, they were having such a great time, that Garfield was beginning to relax and lean back against the couch, curled on his side in such a way that he managed to see both the television and Raven on the other side of the couch. She was pretending not to be interested in the cartoon he had picked but was failing miserably because he could see her getting more invested in the plotlines as it went on. When one of the characters got into trouble, Raven had made a sound of protest.
"That can't happen to Butterbean!" she had yelled. "Butterbean is pure of soul and —"
She caught Garfield grinning at her across the couch and she closed her mouth abruptly, looking so pouty that Garfield thought she looked adorable.
" Shut it," she warned him, her eyes glaring angrily.
" Make me." He shot back. His phone was out of his pocket and on his hand and before Raven could stop him, he had quickly snapped a picture of Raven and the television. The woman's eyes widened and before Garfield could react, she had shot across the couch, disarmed Garfield and making him drop his phone with a yelp, and pinned the man down, with a knee in his stomach that was really digging into his intestines-
Damn, she has beautiful eyes, he couldn't help but wonder.
And it was then that reality bit him in the ass as the sound of the door opening revealed Dick Grayson in his signature trenchcoat. He raised an eyebrow behind dark sunglasses as he took in the scene before him.
Oh.
Oh…
That didn't look good.
Luckily Dick didn't look suspicious about what was happening, thank the fuck for obliviousness, he really was kinda dumb, why was Raven even with him? He had to distract himself from those thoughts by stammering excuses and making a quick dash for the door, running all the way back home, and decided to huffily huff his way on the couch, lying upside down to try and get the blood into his head to think better. He liked Raven. As a friend. As a friend, good friend, someone who meant nothing to him.
Though of course maybe his view of the situation had long been tainted... he couldn't exactly deny it. Spending time watching Netflix and cooking with her had been so domestic that it felt practically second nature. Her pinning him down to disarm him and drop his phone was almost playful even though she had done it with gritted teeth and she was really pretty good, where the hell did she learn to do that and would she be willing to do that to him again FUCK IT LOGAN SHE'S A MARRIED WOMAN WELL NOT MARRIED BUT STILL-
"Hey little dude," Victor's voice finally managed to penetrate the mental breakdown Garfield had been going through. "You've been quiet for 5 whole minutes. Not like you."
Garfield looked back at Victor and his eyes must have betrayed something because Victor's own eyes softened, and he reached over to try and grab Garfield in a hug.
This however did end in chaos as Garfield was still lying upside down on the couch so Victor had made the mistake of stretching his arms around Garfield's waist and nearly made facial contact near Garfield's genitals. Garfield who did not like any surprising contact of face to genital in general, squawked and accidentally kneed Victor on the chin. Victor, yelling in pain, flailed and somehow managed to hit Garfield in the groin.
The two of them did manage to get their buddy hug after the chaos was over. And Garfield did appreciate the support from his friend, even if he did try to hug his crotch.
Dick Grayson, that absolute fucker, was still fucking laughing.
"You were totally going to kiss him if I didn't walk in, weren't you!" He gasped, voice shaky from laughing too hard.
Raven glared at him from the couch.
"Shut up," was all she could muster. "He has blackmail material. I was merely stopping him."
The bastard only continued laughing. That asshole.
She was more concerned about why Garfield had hightailed himself out of the apartment, looking flustered and eager to get out of there. Hopefully he was okay, and she wasn't sure if she had done something to offend him.
Or maybe he was making a run out of there because he felt very uncomfortable at the possibility of a romance between them?
Somehow that had hurt her more than it should have. She thought they were getting along and despite herself she really did like him. But then again, it made sense. He wasn't interested in goth girls who liked books and judged him all the time. He probably liked girls like himself: bubbly, cool, sun loving. It hurt a lot, to be honest. But she couldn't begrudge him for his tastes.
This was something she probably had to get over by herself. She liked learning how to cook, and she valued their friendship. She would rather smother that affection to death than let on that anything was amiss. Also he was her cat's vet. She would have to be professional and friendly about it. That could be easy. She was used to pretending to be indifferent, why make a difference now?
She sighed. This was going to be hard.
Dick, who had long stopped laughing, sighed and walked over to her on the couch, holding a black cat, and sporting scars. The cat had been struggling to get out of his hands but he still held on fast, plopping the cat onto Raven's lap. The cat had sniffed, but settled herself on her owner's lap. Dick sat next to her, looking a little uncomfortable.
"I didn't mean to go that far, Raven,"he replied.
"Don't apologise, Dick," Raven replied brusquely. "Garfield and I are just friends, he isn't interested in me that way."
"That can't be rig-"Dick argued
"Shut it," she ordered. "He flirts with everyone. I'm not his type of girl. Any more from you is just going to make things worse."
Dick was quiet, but only for a short while. "You're selling yourself short Raven. And you don't know if you don't ask right?"
Raven didn't reply and neither did Dick.