Despite his hangover that next morning, Vic called for training with the whole team, except for Raven, as Kori insisted that she be left alone to sleep.

When Garfield managed to drag himself down to the Titanium, he was relieved by her absence, for his morning had been long and restless.

He tossed and turned for hours with ripples of turmoil, silver linings, regret, butterflies, and some minor self-loathing; just really explored the whole spectrum of anxiety in place of sleep.

It also didn't help that he could still smell her on his shirt. Or that he couldn't stop thinking of her soft hands against his skin. Her lips. How her eyes seemed to brighten whenever she'd look at him long enough.

All of it had been perfect. At least until it wasn't.

And this is what Garfield meant when he told Dick he didn't want to make things weird between them, and he should have just stuck to his gut. Even if she did entertain him last night, Garfield proved to them both that his "charms" wouldn't last.

So, having slept maybe a couple hours, Garfield's eyes withered against daylight as training with the Titans got off to a messy start. Vic and Kori both decided to step up to run things, but then they juggled the lead like they were playing hot tomato.

With his past experience with football and his level delegating presence, Vic made for a good coach. His study of the strengths and weaknesses of everyone's forms and individual styles was on point, and though at times they felt abusive, his notes were overall constructive.

On the other hand, Kori's natural authoritative presence, probably from being raised as a monarch, coincided with the fact that she was also a warrior trained in a variety of alien martial arts.

Gar thought she and Vic would make a good duo if they'd just stop awkwardly avoiding each other's toes. They were also sensitive to everyone's energy levels, and Gar was privately happy that Roy's hangover came back to him with a vengeance after his last set of burpees. The smell alone was enough to clear the gym.

The afternoon was abnormally humid for late November, and after the relentless downpour of the last few days, the Titans welcomed the warmth enthusiastically. Especially Karen, who rallied each of them down to the beach for lunch.

Gar knew he had been too quiet throughout training, though he figured the dark circles beneath his eyes spoke for him. If anyone asked, he'd blame it on poor sleep, and no one was the wiser.

Expect Kori, of course.

The way she avoided his eye contact that morning was a dead give away that she knew precisely how his night ended. And though he was grateful that she didn't bug him about it, she did insist that he go with them down to the beach instead of chill by himself like he wanted to.

But honestly, he was better for it after a short nap in the sun. The stress that had weighed on him all morning lightened, and having Karen and Roy around was a nice change-up.

Kori also kept his mind busy by asking for skimboarding lessons. It didn't take long for her to pick it up and even figure out how to propel herself so that she could circle the island in one skim. When he tried to explain to her that she was technically cheating, Kori left him in the seafoam.

Beneath the glimmering waves, an emerald seal spiraled passed a small pod of humpbacks. In those distant waters, Garfield found some peace.

Though, as the current smoothly drifted him back towards the bank, he acknowledged the unavoidable truth of facing Raven.

Even though they've had these kinds of small fights before, this one just felt more urgent. Gar knew his joke was insensitive, but it wasn't even aimed at her. She didn't have to come back at him so hard like that.

Yet, as he faintly heard the music they had danced to the night before, Garfield knew he wouldn't take anything back. The very fact she played along with him yesterday gave him some hope.

He could fix this. He had to try, at least.

The seaweed dancing in the shallows tickled his back, and Garfield took his mind from the bright blue above him to the shoreline ahead. His pulse spiked almost instantly when he saw her, waiting alone by the cluster of towels.

Slowly, he crossed the shore, summoning his first words from a seemingly empty void: coming up completely blank.

Gar could tell by her frown that she was not excited to see him, but he took the towel she held out as a good sign. So, he thanked her and quickly dried off and looked around for the others.

"They went back," Raven told him with closed arms, and he only nodded before picking up his clothes.

After he dressed and combed back his wet hair, he caught Raven watching him before she dropped her eyes to the sand beneath her boots.

She was strange. He picked up her nerves along with the subtle lavender of her shampoo. Her face was free of makeup, her light skin sun-kissed with freckles along the bridge her nose. She wore plaid leggings beneath an oversized hoodie with a large front pocket that she kept tugging her hands in and out of.

"Would you mind walking with me?" Raven finally asked, signaling down the shore.

The first few minutes they walked, their silence combated the static of the waves crashing near their feet, the seagulls calling out across the skies above, and the whisper of bay breezes whirring around them. Garfield clung to these sounds as distractions from the neurotic, incoherence of his thoughts.

"How did you sleep?"

"No bloody noses or evil birds, at least, so, that's a good sign, I think," Raven peeped at his detached downcast, "You?"

"I didn't get much. Vic had us up pretty early."

"Right, how was it?"

"You didn't miss much, it was more of a workout than anything. Everyone was moving pretty slow. Vic and Kori were trying to figure out their, uh, managerial skills."

Raven smirked at this. Another quiet fell between them as the beach tapered into a sandy trail that twisted through a small grove. Gar enjoyed this side of the island as it's muggy, shaded woodland reminded him of the jungles he'd explore from his dad's back.

The trail narrowed the further they journeyed into the trees, and he let Raven lead as his eyes scanned the canopy of green mixed with turning autumn foliage. He'd appreciated it more if he wasn't so distracted.

With a glare of determination between her brows, Raven abruptly turned to face him. But when Garfield stepped on her toes, her random confidence retreated, and she apologized.

Garfield had inherently grabbed her shoulders for stability, which seemed to fluster her more, so he quickly shoved his hands into his pockets.

Amid the awkwardness, Raven's eyes searched him as if she tried to speak clairvoyantly.

"It's weird, now, huh?" he asked, and Raven lightly chuckled. "Listen, I shouldn't have stormed off last night. And you were right to call me out."

When her eyes beamed with smugness, Garfield grinned and asked her if she'd turn around and keep walking. Raven obliged complacently. "The thing with Terra, is I really trusted her in the beginning. I guess I wanted to believe her so badly, like, I needed to think that someone could still want me like that even though I'm, uh, like this. No, keep going," he stopped her from facing him, "I had some esteem issues, crazy I know, and she helped with that. A lot, actually, at the time.

"So, when everything went down, and it all happened so fast...I don't think I even processed it until days later. But by then, she was gone."

Gar hated his shaking words, and cleared his throat, "My point is that I don't like talking about it, or that it pisses me off because I never got to find out why, I guess. But it doesn't mean I'm still hung up on her. Because I'm not."

Raven led him further down the shaded trail, and Garfield became so unnerved by her quietness that he finally asked her to say anything.

"I didn't know," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was upset."

Garfield's hands found his pockets again, "I know better than to joke about your dad. And I know saying that it sounded different in my head isn't a good excuse."

"I may have overreacted a little. You were talking about her, and I made it about me."

"I guess we both have some sore spots."

"We should probably get over them eventually."

"Yeah? How do you suggest we should do that?"

"I don't know," she glanced back, "suppress them deeper?"

Garfield smiled and followed her across a sketchy log bridge. He floated on the relief of tension, yet he couldn't help but hear a masked strain beneath her joke.

"Okay, but," he said with ambivalence, "before we fully bury them, can I ask you something?"

"If you must."

"You beat Trigon," Gar said cautiously, "he's gone, right? Why do you still let him get to you?"

"Yeah, he's gone, but I'm not."

"What do you mean?"

"He's still a part of me. You saw yourself yesterday. It doesn't matter if he's gone when his darkness remains. I work hard to control it, but if I can be honest with you," Raven paused and faced him again. When Garfield realized she waited for permission, he keenly nodded, "sometimes I get so tired of holding it in that I think how good it would feel to just let it go...even if that means destroying everything." Garfield apprehensively held her gaze, unsure of what she wanted him to say. "So that voice in my head? That's what I mean."

"Trigon may have given you these powers, but you're not him. You have to get that by now."

"If it weren't for you guys," Raven lowered, "If anything happened, I'm not sure I wouldn't give in to it."

"Give yourself more credit. You escaped the first time and came here. You were the one that brought us all together to fight him, remember?" Raven faintly nodded. "Why?"

"I didn't want to help him destroy this place. I didn't want to let what happened to Azarath happen anywhere else."

"But why not?"

"I watched everything I care about to be consumed by him. My mother...I didn't even get to, before..."

"You fought back because you are better than him," Gar said when he could see Raven's thoughts sinking to dark places as she reached for a pendant that wasn't there. "You stopped him because you're stronger."

Even as she pouted at him, he persisted. "You're wrong for thinking it doesn't matter he's gone. You're free of him, right?"

"But if that's true, that would mean that this...evil that I still fight is all mine, not his. And that's worse, somehow."

"Well, sorry to drop this bomb on you, but that's just part of being human. We all have demons," Garfield winced at his oversight, "yeah, usually more metaphorical, but still, we all struggle with them. I can't act like yours aren't a bit harder to deal with, but you've already proved yourself so many times." Her embarrassed smile loaned him courage. "I've seen you do amazing things, and I hate that you do this to yourself."

"Gar, you don't have to-"

"You're always taking care of us, Rae, because you're a good person. And a strong fighter. And I mean, you can be intimidating as hell sometimes but also funny, and smart and irritating but sexy and beautiful, and I just wish you'd see yourself the way I do."

When he heard the words that fell so irresponsibly from his mouth, a chasm split in his chest, for she just stood there, speechless, and analyzed every muscle in his face.

Garfield took a breath for clarification, but again, he just came up empty.

Eventually, Raven took a careful step closer, "So, you're saying," when her eyes slowly found him, he saw in them a glint of laughter, "you think I'm funny?"

"Sometimes," Garfield's relief was contagious, "kinda."

"I knew it."

"Yeah, well, stay humble, alright?"

Raven scoffed and headed back towards the beach. When she realized Garfield didn't follow, she looked back, "are you coming?"

"Where are we going?"

"I told them to wait for you, considering the fit you threw the last time Vic brought home the wrong kind of fake meat."

"I didn't throw a fit, and it wasn't just the wrong kind, it straight up wasn't tofu. Like at all, you know what? Nevermind. Point made." Raven rolled her eyes before turning, but Gar caught her arm. "Hey, wait, are we good? I feel like a lot happened yesterday."

She regarded him long enough to make him nervous, but he couldn't help but notice the brightening color of the eyes that stared back at him.

"Yeah, a lot did happen, didn't it?" she agreed, her impassive expression spoiled by the slight curve of her lips. "Let's go."

Gar chuckled before he gesturing for her lead.

As they walked side by side along the shoreline, warm zephyrs of lavender and brine danced around them. The sand was cool between their toes and the sun soft against their skin.

Garfield eyed the Tower and thought to ask her if she'd want to fly or take a portal back up to where everyone waited for them. But then he realized she most definitely already considered this, and that made him smile.

"Taking the long way, huh?" he asked.

When Raven looked over at him, the west wind billowed her hair all over her face. Her lips puffed forcibly while her hands reached up to subdue her unruly mane.

"Don't choke," Garfield teased as he reached over to kindly help pull the hair from her squinting eyes and pouting lips.

When he could see her again, he couldn't tell if she was grateful or mad, for her face twisted with scrutiny. "What?" he laughed defensively, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm not," she said quietly through the faintest smirk while she gathered and tied back her hair, "I don't know how else to look at you."

Amused, but a little chagrined, Garfield shook his head and walked away from her mockery, only to be pulled back by her hand. "Just gonna make fun of me? Wha-"

Raven's kiss was rushed and clumsy, but resolute as she caught his face in her hands. Garfield wasted no time in pulling her closer, fearing she'd snap out of it and flee. But she didn't, instead, just corrected and parted her lips, stealing shallow breaths through her nose.

When she carefully withdrew her face and lowered her fingers, Garfield watched the color of her glowing irises change around dilated pupils.

"Please don't let anyone make you think you couldn't be wanted," Raven's spoke softly and took his hands from her waist, 'because you are."

Her sincerity almost frightened him, like he waited for her to laugh at her own joke. Instead, she faintly nodded before continuing down the beach.

Gar bit his smile before catching up to her. "Because I'm so charming and refined, right?" Raven looked back with contempt. "Yeah, okay," Gar grinned, surrendering his hands to the air, "quit while I'm ahead, got it."

With this profound levity in his chest, Garfield decided he was quite content with taking the long way back to the Tower. As far as he was concerned, the others could wait forever.