Gar's first reaction to being confronted by Kory's bright smile and sparkling green eyes when he opened his bedroom's door was to flinch. And when the smile broke and Kory bit her lower lip to stop it from trembling, her eyes lowering in sadness; Gar wondered if he ever managed to turn into a kangaroo he'd be able to punch himself really hard.

Although he was not doing that do be man, and after all the recent events – and others no so recent… What was the bad guys deal with making Dick and Kory hurt him about? – he had plausible reason to react the way he did. But there was something dreadful in making the woman who was currently filling the mom-shaped void in his heart cry. And to add insult to injury, he followed her gaze down and noticed that she was carrying a tray. Way to go, Garfield! Jerk of the year!

"Hey, Kory!" he finally blurted.

"Morning, Gar. I made you breakfast."

Gar tried really hard to look excited, but there was a reason why he had become his family's official cook. Both Dick's and Kory's – especially Kory's – cooking sucked.

She seemed to read his stiff expression and that made the smile ease back into her face, accompanied by a mischievous glint in her eyes as she let herself into his room. Gar let out some of his tension then, he'd eat all the disgusting blob in the world if that made Kory happy.

"I'm joking, kid. I bought you waffles from that vegan restaurant you and Dick like."

He closed the door and let out a relived laugh.

"You didn't need, Kory…"

After a moment of contemplation, she apparently decided that the bed was better than his messy worktable and sat the tray and herself on his unmade bed.

"No, I did. Gar… I'm so sorry."

"Kory…"

"No, I don't want you try to apologize for me, everything you said when I let you out from the trunk of the car was true. We promised to take care of you, and we've been failing, hard. I have been failing you. A couple of lukewarm waffled can't make up for it, obviously, but I just wanted you to feel seen."

Suddenly there was a giant raccoon living inside Gar's throat. He closed his eyes hard trying to swallow it down. And when he opened his eyes again, Kory was standing up. She threw her arms around him, and Gar choked, holding her hard too. She smelt like sunlight, home, and expensive perfume. And even though they were nothing alike, he thought about Rita, and when she held him like that when he was little, scared at the way the Doom Manor's pipes moaned and creaked at night, and his heart ached.

"It's okay, kid, let it go."

"Sorry," he sniffled, still holding her for dear life. "I don't blame you, Kory. Or Dick. And I don't mean everything I said…"

"Gar…"

"No, please," he said pushing her gently away, "let me speak. I love taking care of all of you. I feel useful, you know? And I know you guys care about me. If you didn't, I'd be still be being experimented by Lex Luthor's scientists or in the basement of Doom Mansion. But this is nice too. Thank you."

She still looked a half unconvinced when she sat down on his bed again.

"Come, eat your breakfast."

Gar took a few ragged breaths and cleaned his face with the back of his hands, hopped in the same place and shook his shoulders to expurgate the bad vibes, and sat beside Kory, cracking a big grin before starting to stuff his face.

"Can't believe you found this here in Gotham. I didn't know they were a franchise."

"Apparently there are people that hate food everywhere."

"Come on, Kor, try one!"

She made a disgusted face.

"Nah, they are yours, kid, enjoy."

"Hey, don't tell Conner I cried, please."

Kory rolled her eyes.

"There is nothing wrong with crying, Gar."

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts," and both of them giggled. Kory picked a blueberry from Gar's plate popping inside her mouth. "When you threw up everything you've been holding, as much as it hurt to hear, I still find relief that you felt like you could tell those things to me, and that you had the language to express it too. A lot of people can't, because they grew up in a place that never nurtured them to develop these abilities."

"You mean Dick."

Kory sighed.

"And Jason too. And as much as I am angry with both of them, I'm more angry at myself because they didn't feel safe enough to be open like you did."

"That's not on you, Kory. That's on them," and Batman, Gar added inside his heart.

"Is it really? I'm not sure. Here on Earth people act like everybody is on their own. I used to think this was freeing and amazing, I never got to be just Koriand'r, just myself, when I was in Tamaran. But now I miss the sense of responsibility everyone has to each other back home. Or at least everyone should have. Look at Komand'r… I failed her too."

Gar didn't know what to say about that. Kory and her sister was a whole can of warms he was not ready to handle. The other day he had joked about not believing she was really an alien, and the joke had been inspired by his contemplations about how sometimes Kory seemed the only one of their messy family that knew how to human. He just munched his waffles and ignored his disappearing blueberries, stealing one or two glances of Kory, she could be in Tamaran for what her lost gaze concerned.

And them Gar remembered that when they returned to Wayne Manor it was late and everyone was asleep.

"About your sister," he said, bringing Kory back to Earth, "did you tell Dick we brought her here?"

Kory blinked, and then her face morphed in one of absolute horror.

"Fuck."

Just wanted to write a little mummy and son moment. I'm very happy Titans writers are finally hearing us and giving us Gar and Kory content. Kory or Rita, Gar is a mum's little boy, and that's how we love him.

Please comment what you think. I love to chat.