Gallery of Kisses

"Come!" Garfield urged his girlfriend as he dragged her by the hand up the stairs to the roof of the Tower. "I want to show you one of my secret places!"

"What's so secret about the roof?" Raven grumbled, irritated with her green boyfriend for pulling her away from the novel she was enjoying. "We've been up there a zillion times!"

"You've never been to this place!" he beamed at her, his smile balancing between anxious encouragement and joyful enthusiasm. Raven rolled her eyes. "Gar…"

He stopped and turned to look at her, the excitement fading from his eyes. "You could play along for once, you know."

She didn't have to be an empath to read the droop of his ears and the hurt in the corners of his mouth. Shame scythed through her and she stepped quickly closer to run her fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry, Gar. You're right. I should."

The happy grin returned. "You're the best girlfriend I ever had!" he exclaimed and hugged her tightly before he resumed dragging her up the stairs.

"I'm the only girlfriend you ever had," she couldn't resist growling. He gripped her hand tighter and flashed her a playful smile. "Pot, meet kettle!"

They reached the roof. Raven pulled the hood over her face to shield herself from the bright sun while Garfield waved a hand expansively. "Ta-dah! Here we are!"

"It's certainly a well-guarded secret, because I can't see anything!" the sorceress complained, uncomfortable as always when forced away from her daily routine. Then again, her green, fanged, pointy-eared boyfriend made sure that there was as little routine as possible in her life, and she adored him ever the more for it.

"Oh, don't worry about it!" he laughed, then offered her his arm. "Let me show you!"

Raven sighed her exasperation but couldn't keep a small smile from spreading over her features. She accepted the affectionately presented arm and allowed herself a chuckle. "Well, then. Lead on!"

"My pleasure," he gave her a small, flirty bow and guided her forward. His free hand gestured at something unseen in front of them. "Welcome to my Gallery of Kisses!"

The empath choked on a sudden guffaw. "Gallery of what?"

"Gallery of Kisses!" he repeated with a sunny grin. "It's a museum where I keep the memories of all my kisses."

Bemused, she stood still for a few moments. Her mouth worked like that of a fish trying to breathe air. Her hand went for her face, covering her eyes.

"Let's start here," he pulled her towards the center of the roof, ignoring her vexation. "The Room of Angry Kisses!"

"... Angry?" she managed to squawk, still mildly stunned by his actions. By Azar, she was torn between banishing him to another dimension or covering him with kisses. Maybe she should do both.

The green morpher was, however, oblivious to her quandary. "Check this one out," he spoke as if he was showing her the renowned work of a great artist. "Remember when I pushed you away from Dr. Light's beam and got burned? You were so angry with me!"

The memory of the incident flashed through her mind and she felt a shadow of the fear and fury that overcame her that day. "Gar, you almost got killed trying to protect me! Of course I was upset!"

"I know that," his tone became sheepish. "But that's not the exhibit. It's the kiss you gave me when I woke from the coma."

Oh, she remembered it well. The anguish, the anxiety, the sheer relief to see those beautiful green eyes of his open again. "I… I was…"

"That kiss was worth all the pain," he told her affectionately. Her eyebrows came together in a scowl and she opened her mouth to scold him for the idiocy he displayed on that occasion, but he preempted her by pointing to a different place.

"How about that one?" he said quickly. "When those two fangirls were all over me? And then you dragged me away and teleported us to the Tower and kissed me and told me I was only yours."

The demoness felt her cheeks burn and her gaze dropped. Garfield chuckled. "That was some kiss," he recalled wistfully, then snickered. "You know, before that I never imagined you were the jealous type."

Her eyes slowly rose to meet his own. A crimson glow appeared in them. Garfield's smirk evaporated.

"You are mine, Garfield Mark Logan," she growled and poked a warning finger into his chest. "And I do not share!"

The shapeshifter gulped. "Um, yeah, I suppose I got that message!" he ran a finger under his collar and smiled wanly. "Comes with dating a half-demon, I guess!"

"Humph!" she snorted. Seeing she wasn't mollified, he quickly pulled her along.

"Next section," he spoke in a hurry, looking for an escape route from the corner he'd just painted himself in. "The Awkward Kisses!"

Raven's scowl had mellowed into a frown by now. "Awkward?"

"Yeah," he nodded enthusiastically, sensing that he was going to survive his recent blunder. "At Dick's and Kori's engagement party, remember? When we finally told everyone we were dating, and they all began shouting 'Kiss, kiss, kiss!', and you had to do it in front of everybody?"

Another small smile lit up Raven's face. Of course, how could she forget? She was so embarrassed that she sought to hide herself in that kiss, to shut out the world around it and make it go away and vanish until there was nothing else in the entire Universe but the two of them and their kiss. Gar's initial astonishment with her suddenly unleashed passion was short, though, and he kissed her back with everything he had. When they finally broke apart her ears were ringing, but she never knew if it was from the kiss or from the whistles, hoots and shouts of approval and encouragement that shook the room.

"That's one of my fondest memories," she murmured and released his arm to embrace him. He pulled her closer and smiled, pointing to yet another empty place on the roof.

"And this one?" he chuckled. "When Cy caught us making out on the couch?"

The half-demon's smile became crooked. "He didn't tease you about it, did he?"

"Come to think of it, he never did!" Gar frowned and scratched the back of his head. "I thought he wouldn't let me live it down."

"You don't give him enough credit," Raven rebuked him gently. "He's a good friend."

Tactfully, Raven didn't mention she had cornered Cyborg immediately after the incident in order to express her conviction that her Big Bro was going to behave as a mature adult about it and refrain from teasing her boyfriend. Or else, with a special and extensively descriptive emphasis on the 'else'.

Garfield's arm over her shoulder guided her along and she followed, shaking her head and smiling. He stopped for a second and she felt a flash of deep sadness and regret coming from him before he crushed it and pulled her away.

"Gar, what was that?" she asked, not even sure if she really sensed it or had just imagined it.

"Uh, nothing! Now, the next –"

"Gar!" she interrupted him, his quick denial convincing her she was on the right track. "There was something. Something you're not telling me."

He fidgeted. "It's, uh, it's private…"

"Private?" she crossed her arms and tilted her head. "Are you keeping secrets from me?"

"No!" he cried, then shuffled his feet. "I mean…" his voice trailed off. She waited for a few moments, but he remained silent. She bit her lip. "Let's continue, then," she said hoarsely.

"It's not that, Rae. I just…"

"I know what it's like to hide things from those you love, Gar," she spoke softly. "But I was hoping you wouldn't make the same mistakes I did."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "The Good Night Kisses," he blurted out. Raven blinked.

Gar sighed. "My parents. When I was a kid, they would… kiss me good night."

Silence fell between them for a few seconds before Raven broke it. "Gar."

"I'm sorry, Rae, I didn't…"

"Gar," she repeated and he felt her fingers touch his cheek. He opened his eyes and met her serious gaze. "That should be a fond, happy memory."

"But it hurts…" he mumbled, his sight becoming blurry. He felt her embrace him and he hugged her back desperately. "I'm sorry. I ruined it."

"Don't be an idiot, Gar," she hummed in his ear. "Now, tell me what's the most precious exhibit you have in your Gallery?"

He pulled back, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "The most precious?" he grinned and waved his hand towards the corner of the roof. "Right there, you see it? Our first kiss."

Raven's eyebrow went up. "Our first kiss? From what I remember it was pretty sloppy. And clumsy."

Garfield's grin widened and his fang poked out. "Ooooh, so now you're an expert in kissing?"

"I had a good teacher," the corner of her mouth went a little bit up. "But I suppose technique isn't everything."

"Of course!" Gar agreed, nodding vigorously. "There's also the artistic impression!"

"Speaking of impressions, I have to say it's the best Gallery I've ever seen," she said warmly before her voice took on a decidedly throaty note. "Maybe I can offer you a contribution?"

Garfield frowned in puzzlement for a moment. "Contribution?" he tried to ask just as her hands cupped his face and he found himself on the receiving end of a brain-scrambling, lip-scorching, toe-curling kiss. Before short-circuiting itself out, his rational mind agreed wholeheartedly that it was definitely a masterpiece of kissing, and absolutely deserving of a place of honor in his Gallery.