EARLIER THAT WEEK

[1]

A strange morning fog shrouded Titan's Tower from the city's view, isolating the island with an eerie sense of loneliness.

Near the crack of dawn, training was broadcasted via the Tower's PA system, Victor's new trick that Garfield knew wouldn't sit well with the team for long.

He had expected that since they didn't get back until early this morning, Vic would be in the mood to sleep in. But apparently not. In fact, the cyborg thought it'd be extra fun to offend his teammates from their sleep by blasting Van Halen's "Jump," and boy, was it effective. Dirty Trax had that song on their arena playlist all night, and Gar had already heard that god damn synth intro at least three times before he even fell asleep. He already knew Raven would be vigorously expressing her grievances with Vic and his morning announcements, and Gar just hoped he'd be there to see it go down.

Woozily, he pulled on a pair of joggers and a crew neck, his head swimming with the number of pulls from Roy's whiskey bottle and the beers he chased them with. Though he rarely drank, Garfield had a strangely high tolerance for alcohol. But it took him a rude amount for him to feel a buzz, and since his metabolism sobered him up in record time, he never saw the lure of it, especially when he still got the hangover after.

Yet, last night, he had inexplicable jitters and drinking with Roy, and Vic seemed to chill him out a bit.

Garfield knew he should have been stoked, and by all means, he was, but it didn't seem completely real, not yet. He couldn't kick this feeling that when he got back to the Tower, the Raven who kissed him on the beach wouldn't be there anymore. Like the spell would wear off, and he'd turn back into a frog.

Shaking off the nauseated chills, Garfield took small, calculated sips of water before making his way downstairs. On his way to the kitchen, he briefly wondered if Raven's powers could be an alternative hangover cure. But in pausing by her empty room, Gar remembered those abilities were empathetic. He wouldn't do that to her, at least not on purpose.

Garfield followed the scent trails of lavender and lemongrass to the kitchen, where he found Koriand' r mixing a strange plethora of ingredients into a blender jar.

"Good morning, Gar," she beamed in a quiet moment just before igniting the blender. The violent noise worsened his already throbbing temples, and the changeling covered his ears briefly.

While Raven's fragrance still lingered in the air, it was quickly overwhelmed by the robust flavor of a freshly brewed pot of coffee. He helped himself and patiently awaited the relief of the blender's quiet.

"That thing sounds broken," he grumbled when Kori finally switched it off.

"Does it?" She lifted the pitcher and peaked beneath to inspect the motor base.

"You've seen Rae?" He asked before a refreshing sip of coffee. He caught a strange glance from the alien before she played off her concern onto the blender.

"She is already downstairs," she told him and poured her smoothie into a couple different mason jars, releasing a bitter stench of kale that tickled his gag reflex. She coyly slid a full glass towards him with smirking eyes. "Victor said you might need this."

"What in the hell," Gar carefully took the jar in his hand, but not without holding his breath, "is this, Star?"

"Just drink it," she giggled and rinsed the blender jar in the sink. "Hangovers will not excuse you from training. And just because Dick is not here does not mean you can engage in drinking every night. And, ugh," she scowled and covered her nose, "you smell flammable."

"Alright, ease up, mom," Gar leered and gently slid the glass away in a quiet refusal to consume it.

Koriand' r squinted and pushed the mason jar back, "We had to keep the windows open all of yesterday to air out the smell of Roy's vomit. You will drink this."

"I'll be fine-"

"Garfield!" she yelled with a severity that he could only submit to. After an exasperated sigh, he held his breath and chugged the smoothie, hating how it slid down his throat in chunks.

"Happy?" He gagged dramatically before he stood with his coffee and headed towards the elevator.

"Gar," Kori's voice was strained, and she seemed to struggle with her follow up. He regarded her patiently between sips of coffee. "It happened again," she said with an erring look in her emerald eyes.

[2]

The silence that filled the Titanium when her playlist faded between tracks made Raven acutely aware of her breathing. It was so quiet that the faintest sound, like that of her ankle popping with a small step, reverberated like little snaps against the walls.

As she reached up into a mountain pose, Raven tried to release the dread that she held between her breasts with a long exhale, yet she kept coming up short.

It was the hateful image of Garfield's demonic gaze that still haunted her, and the longer she went without seeing him, the tighter her chest pulled.

Don't drag it out, she reminded herself as her body folded together. Her hamstrings whined with the gentle strain, as her sigh wobbled against her shins.

After training, that's when Raven would break it to him. Just calm, cool, and collected, and above all, kindly. She'd grit her teeth through it until Gar understood why she couldn't let him willingly fall prey to her problems.

Raven knew she'd sooner leave the Titans than allow the Crow's warning manifest into any kind of reality.

Part of her almost hoped that this vision of hers wasn't even from the crow, but her own subconscious, grimly reminding herself why she was raised with the will of emotion. At least that way, the looming sense of danger that she felt for herself and her team would ease up a little. Regardless, the threats imposed on those she cared for would not be ignored in the name of desire.

Even as that desire grew louder with each breath.

It was like his smell lingered on her skin somehow, velvetier and spicy citrus. As soon as she indulged it, she was invaded by quick dreams of him; by the soft edges that carved his body or his eyes gleaming against the light when he smiled. Raven noticed the waxing flutter in her belly, she tried dispelling such thoughts through a sharp exhale, as if they'd be dispersed into the air, and she'd be free of them.

But after last night, she wasn't convinced that it would work when her blood rushed at the thought of his mouth on her, and quiet yearning grew louder, harder to disregard.

As she laid in bed alone with her concepts of him, her worry for his safety spun into want for his body as she let her fingers wander around her own. She imagined him lying above her, she'd gently traced the lines of his collarbone as he watched her with those arrogant, glimmering eyes. He'd know how much she loved his closeness, how his hands weaved into her hair to keep her face free of pesky strays. And finally, when she'd had enough, she'd reach for his jaw and bring his smirking lips down to hers.

She'd think of his body urging against hers, those lips dragging across the valleys of her neck. Her pulse thickened, driving her to a release that relieved her in ways that meditation never could.

And now, beneath the fluorescence of the Titanium, her skin glowed at the memory of it. Raven straightened her spine and reached for those lights in a focused attempt to calm herself, releasing sharp puffs into the air. Though her anxiety managed to subside, she was now bothered by a different, more distracting sensation that pulsated between her legs.

Needless to say, she woke up unprepared and almost unwilling to tell Garfield that they'd have to take several steps back from each other and keep it that way.

Raven's great exhalation morphed into a growl as she folded over again, planting her hands on the mat beneath her feet. She stepped her legs back into downward dog, pressing hips firmly in the air before taking in sharp breaths through her nose.

How the fuck was she going to do this without pissing everyone off?

Raven told Vic she didn't want to hurt anyone, and she meant that shit, Yet, to protect everyone, that's exactly what she has to do. It wasn't fair. Raven didn't ask for this, and for it, she almost wanted to be angry at Garfield.

Why couldn't he just let her be? After all these years, why now? And, for the love of Azar, why her?

A faint laugh cracked her lips as Raven mused whether Garfield just had a perverse thing for tragically unavailable women.

Raven brought her knees to the mat and arched her hips to start a cat-cow set when she heard the elevator's chime ringing down the corridor.

Not even through the door and she could already sense him, and prayed she was ready.

[3]

As he closed in on the Titanium access, Garfield warily remarked the speed at which his hangover subsided, quickly worried about what kind of stimulants Kori mixed into her hazardous smoothie. For too much of a good thing could mean turning Garfield's house cat into a grizzly on roids real quick.

But in setting that aside, Gar had every intention of cross-examination when he entered the gym looking for Raven. However, finding her on all fours with her spine bowing towards the ground quickly dissipated his concern about whatever it was he had been thinking about.

In agreeable silence, he watched her back curve up as she rested on her heels to look at him through the mirror.

"Hey killer," he grinned, "you know you don't get extra points for showing up early."

"Thought I'd get my body ready for Vic's tyrannical drills," Raven said before shifting her weight so her legs could come forward against the mat. "I heard it made Roy throw up."

Garfield crossed the gym as Raven laid on her back to bring one ankle above her knee for reclined pigeon.

"I'm pretty sure that had more to do with the saki and beer, but yeah," he said and sat on the ground beside her, carefully balancing his mug so the coffee wouldn't spill. Raven turned her head enough to side-eye him while she switched her legs.

"So, how was your boys night?" Raven asked blandly as she set her feet on the mat and opened her legs for the reclined goddess. "Was it just everything you dreamed it could be?"

As her hands reached above her head to grip her elbows, Garfield's gaze was drawn to her how her ribs expanded as she inhaled.

She wore these white, high-waisted leggings that fit snug to her body, leaving a gap of exposed skin beneath the hem of her top. Garfield wanted to run his fingers across that skin, maybe then his lips, and wondered what kind of noises she'd make in response. As he fought such fantasies of resting between those legs that beckoned him, Garfield stopped himself from licking his lips.

"What? Are you upset you couldn't have me all to yourself last night?"

Raven scoffed with her eyes closed, "Hardly."

With hasty courage, Gar set his mug down and crawled towards her in a swift movement.

"You sure?" Her eyes opened onto his smugness and narrowed when he carefully set his palms on either side of her shoulders.

Gar could see her excitement in the way her irises intensified, and when her nervous breath betrayed her hardened scowl, he lowered to his forearms for an easy kiss. Suddenly realizing his coffee breath, he pulled away in a panic, but the look on Raven's face gave him pause.

Her widened eyes wavered around him like she was afraid, guilting him enough to believe he'd seriously overstepped a boundary. Gar quickly readjusted himself to back off, but Raven's hands then abruptly took hold of his shirt and tugged him back down. He relaxed with the relief of her eager lips, and Raven let go of his shirt to take the nape of his neck.

The kiss deepened in heavy breaths when Gar's tongue tentatively ran along her lower lip, kindly asking permission. But the touch apparently spooked her, because Raven then abruptly pushed him off and sat up, covering her mouth like she had just said something terrible.

Garfield fell onto his back with a grunt and watched Raven stand and cross the room in alarming silence. She bent over for her phone and water bottle and paused her music, the room suddenly filled with the stammered echoes of him rolling over to find his own footing.

"I shouldn't have done that," Raven finally said before a long sip of water. "I'm sorry."

"What are you talking about?" he chuckled and stood before her, "don't apologize."

"No, I have to," When she looked up at him, the color seemed to have drained from her eyes, "because, we can't do that, because I'm giving you the wrong idea."

"What happened, Rae?" Gar regarded her nervously, trying to mask his embarrassment as best he could.

"Nothing happened. It's just that...this," Raven gestured between them, "it won't work. We just can't keep it up without hurting anyone."

Gar couldn't help but flash an agitated grin. "Raven."

"What?"

"Are you going to tell me about last night?" He tilted his head to force direct eye contact. "You know, the vision you had that made you pass out in your own blood?"

Raven's face darkened, "Why even ask if you already know?"

"Come on, Rae, talk to me. I want to help."

"Well, I didn't ask for it. Besides, you've probably done enough."

"I've done enough?" he scoffed, "You kissed me too, remember?"

"So what?" Raven gripped her phone hard in her hand. "Don't try to make it into more than it was."

A dense and angry silence between them was followed by the distant ping of the elevators, which announced the other Titans.

As they filed into the room, Raven tore her glare from Garfield and headed for the doorway.

"Where do you think you're going?" Vic asked as she passed him.

"Bathroom," she grumbled, "I'm already warmed up."

"Alright," Vic said defensively before casting a bothered look at Garfield. "We okay here?"

"Yeah," Garfield told him as his eyes followed Raven down the hallway until she disappeared into the locker room.

"Shit," Vic chuckled to himself, "here we go."