Lover's Spat

The loud crashing sound coming from outside the Ops room made Robin look away from the screen for an instant.

"Don't tell me that's…" he groaned. Cyborg frowned but kept his eyes on the game they were playing. "Yeah. It came from Raven's room. They're at it again."

Starfire sighed while she stirred the unsavory-looking glop in the pot that was simmering on the stove. "I have the wish that our friends would cease with the fighting," she complained before her attention was pulled back to the bubbling sludge. It had extruded a tentacle and wrapped it around the spoon, forcing the alien to wrench the implement away and slap the uncooperative goo with it a few times to subdue it.

"Not much chance of that," her boyfriend grumbled. "It's almost as if they enjoy it."

The tall redhead's face brightened. "Maybe they will wish to partake of the Pudding of Joyful Friendship that I am preparing? It should end their conflict!"

"That's a pretty safe bet," Cyborg mumbled to himself. "It would end it, like, permanently."

Robin scowled at his friend but kept his peace, knowing Cyborg was not too far from the truth. They both focused back on the game they were playing, ignoring the scuffling, thudding and thrashing noises that approached the Ops room in an ominous, unstoppable crescendo.

The side door exploded inwards, blasted open by a hissing, spitting and growling ball of green fur and indigo fabric that burst rolling into the room.

Azarath Metrion Zinthos! A surge of black power hurled a green leopard upwards to slam it forcefully against the ceiling. Unfazed, it morphed into a falcon and dove towards its assailant, transforming into a curled-up armadillo right before it crashed into the blue-cloaked sorceress as she tried to get up from the floor.

"Ooof!" her breath whooshed out and she dropped on the floor again, rolling to the side just in time to avoid a green paw hurtling towards her head, then sprang up, gasping for air and creating an obsidian shield against the green grizzly that reared threateningly above her.

"I just wish they could be quieter!" Robin grumbled and reached for the remote. By unspoken agreement, Cyborg paused his attack until the sound was adjusted loud enough to drown the roaring, howling and snarling behind them. Before they could get back to the game, however, there was a loud crash and a piece of debris flew to strike the half-robot in the metal-plated side of the head. He huffed in irritation. "Didn't we tell them to keep their fighting out of the Ops room?"

"Yeah, only about a dozen times so far!" the leader of the Titans answered grumpily.

"I have heard that the sex after the fighting is most wonderful!" Starfire observed with a small, sunny giggle while she searched the overhead cupboard for ingredients. "Ah, this is where I placed the khar'gal claws!" she exclaimed in satisfaction as she pulled a sealed jar out and returned to her cooking, ducking a stray blast of black magic almost absent-mindedly.

Robin's face remained impassive but the reddening of his cheeks and his ears revealed that he had heard Starfire's comment. Cyborg just shook his head. "TMI, Star!" he chuckled and lifted his arm to ward off the pieces of glass flying around as Raven was thrown through the window. The demoness stopped in mid-air outside the Tower and hovered for a moment, releasing a barrage of black bolts into the room through the smashed glass, then streaked back inside to rejoin the fight.

The alien rolled her eyes, a mannerism she picked from her best friend. She'd never understand the Earthlings' reluctance to speak about sex. They sure liked practicing it well enough.

She bent over the simmering goop to protect it from the flying debris as Beast Boy's body collided with the cupboard and smashed it into kindling. The green morpher shook his head to clear it, transformed into a chimp, grabbed the as-yet-unfinished pot of pudding and threw it at the empath, rushing immediately after it with a challenging screech.

"Friend Beast Boy!" the Tamaranean cried in distress. "It is not finished yet!"

The battling Titans ignored her. Black energy engulfed the counter and it was ripped out of its mountings to be thrown at the changeling.

"Hey, lay off the furniture!" Cyborg shouted angrily, but the two combatants were beyond reasoning. A green gorilla grabbed the coffee table and lifted it over his head, ready to smash it over the Azarathian. She shot it out of his hands and he jumped at her, carrying her to the floor.

Inky tendrils sneaked over the couch, but before it could be removed from under Robin's and Cyborg's backsides to be used as a weapon, Robin threw the game controller to the ground and jumped on his feet, striding angrily towards the dueling couple.

"That's enough, you two!"

His voice carried an unmistakable ring of command that was impossible to ignore. The yowling and snarling quieted. Garfield lowered his raised paw and turned back into himself, while Raven allowed the black mist around her hands to dissipate. The crimson blaze in her four eyes dimmed and they merged.

Gar bent and helped his girlfriend get up, then curled a protective arm around her shoulders while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. Raven pulled what's left of the hood over her head and huddled close to the green morpher.

"So what was it this time?" their leader admonished. The two fighting lovebirds looked at each other before they started searching the floor for something very important.

"I… don't remember," the empath confessed in a hoarse voice. "We're sorry."

Robin facepalmed. "You don't even remember why you were trying to rip each other's throats out?"

"Dude, it was just a friendly tussle!" the changeling grumbled, hugging his girlfriend and avoiding Robin's glare. "You know I'd never hurt Rae!"

The Boy Wonder's eyes studied them. One of Gar's ears was bitten half through and it dripped blood on his shoulder. His face was covered with scratches and bruises and his uniform barely held itself together. Raven was in a similar state, her cloak was in tatters, one of her sleeves was torn off and her shoulder was smeared with blood. A large hole was ripped in her leotard under the left breast and three long, bloody, parallel grooves were gouged deep into the exposed skin.

"I suppose it would depend on your definition of 'hurt'," Robin observed dryly before addressing the empath. "Can you heal these?"

She nodded. "Quickly and easily. It looks worse than it is."

"Then do it," their leader ordered curtly. "And clean up this mess!"

He turned and walked over to the couch, sitting beside Cyborg and picking up the discarded game controller. A malicious grin spread over his face. "Oh, and an hour of extra training every day next week for both of you," he shot over his shoulder and started the game again, sharing a chuckle with Cyborg.

Garfield's mouth opened to complain, but a warning squeeze of Raven's hand made him think better of it. All things considered, they got off lightly. No sense digging themselves in deeper. He gave the empath a wide, understanding grin and began working on the cleanup. While Raven repaired the broken furniture with her magic, Gar cleaned up quickly the spilled coffee and soda and wiped off the remains of Starfire's creation. The rag he used was then dropped without delay into the incinerator.

Soon enough they finished. "I'll take Gar to my room," the half-demon stated as she took her boyfriend's hand and pulled him towards the freshly-repaired door. "Please do not disturb us. I will need to focus on the healing."

As they reached the door, Raven paused for a moment and turned. A tiny, crooked smile played over her features. "Oh, and Star?" she called out to her friend. "You have no idea."

The door closed behind the couple. Starfire's smile widened and her eyes glowed. She cast a glance at her boyfriend who was still playing the game with Cyborg, oblivious to Raven's parting comment, and cracked her knuckles.