THE ZOO

Gar heard the front door unlock, and sent a silent prayer up to the sky.

Next came the dull thud of her bag dropping to the floor, the light clinking of a set of keys. Footsteps - one, two, three, four, five. Then she was in the room.

Time to turn on the charm.

"There she is!" Changeling whipped around from the stovetop, sporting a polka-dot apron over his front and a spatula in his left hand. "My beautiful, smart, gorgeous girlfriend, whom I love with all my heart!"

Raven raised a brow, painfully slowly.

He'd pushed it. He'd only just opened his mouth, and he'd already pushed it. But he found he couldn't stop.

"I hope she brought an appetite," he said, twisting back to the frying pan, though she noticed he refused to take his eyes off of her. "'Cos I made her faaavourite!"

Jesus, Gar. Is she three years old?

He heard her warily approach him. "That's... nice. But Dick and I already ate."

Dammit.

"That's cool!" he lied. "No prob, no prob." He was swivelling back to her again, like the pancakes on the stove had become an afterthought. "How's the big 'Wing, huh? He doin' good?"

Raven reached for the zip on her coat. "You saw him yesterday," she challenged. Gar's smile turned weak.

"Heh. Lot can happen in a day..." He did not miss the way she eyed him for several moments more, before she began shuffling out of her parka.

"He's fine."

"Oop! I got that for ya'!" Her boyfriend practically leapt from the kitchen to the living space, snatching both her sleeves to pull them from her arms once he reached her. "Hi, by the way," he added, bringing his face to hers from over her shoulder.

"Hi—" A quick peck landed on her cheek, and in the time she took to blink, he'd swiped the coat from her and scurried to place it on the hook at the far wall.

"You want a drink?" He was spinning 'round again, like he physically could not stand still on his feet. "Some tea? Whatcha in the mood for?"

Raven's thin arms crossed over her chest. "Why are you being weird." It was spoken more like a demand than a question, her patience fraying at the edges.

"Weird?" Changeling's forced smile split over his cheeks. "Hahaha, not me!"

Two thick brows dipped on her head. "Right."

Whatever it was, it would come out. He was already unravelling like a ball of yarn, so she assumed that would be sooner rather than later. Still, she wouldn't entertain it. She bluntly turned to head down the hallway to their bedroom, and immediately noted how he trailed behind her.

Pale fingers wrapped around the handle.

"Don't!"

Raven stiffened at the shrill yelp he released into her ear. The suspicion crawled into every line of her face as she looked to him.

"Dooon't... don't youuu... wanna watch a movie?" the shifter grinned. "In there?" He shot his thumb back down the hall.

"... Sure..." She drew the sound out with a purposeful drawl. "After I get changed."

His jaw tensed before he nodded. "Right. Right..."

Her hand gripped around the doorknob again.

"Uh! But, before you do. There's something you should know."

Indigo eyes lifted to the ceiling before they sought him out. His lower fang had practically bitten through his lip.

"I kinda... did something."

"You kinda did something." The words were echoed with complete flatness. Done with his charade, Raven twisted the handle and pushed open the door. Changeling's tooth bit down again.

She did not enter. She merely stood idle, fist still fixed around the handle, stare fixed onto the bed.

"... What is that."

Her boyfriend scratched above his collar.

"It's a cat."

"It's in our apartment."

"Yeah..."

When she finally pried her gaze away, he was peering down at her through impossibly wide eyes, like full, emerald moons. She frowned.

"No."

"But Raven!"

"Gar—"

"She was in an alley, okay?" he whined, stepping out from behind her to scramble face-to-face. "Look at her!" A green arm flew in the direction of the bed. "She's a baby!"

The cat in question was, in fact, not a baby. A thin, but fully grown, raggedy-looking thing with a kink in its tail.

"She's feral," Raven said.

"She's a living thing!"

"So is our fern, yet you still neglect to water it."

"That's different." His hands went to his chest. "You know I forget things." Having ADHD was such fun.

She moved to walk past him. "Well that's a great basis for having a pet."

"Ha!" He shadowed her, arm raised pin-straight and a finger pointed out. "You said pet! You wanna keep her!"

Completely ignoring their feline guest, the sibyl made for their closet, opened it up and began removing her shoes.

"I do not want to keep her." One boot came off and was tossed inside. "I want her out of my room." The other boot followed.

"But babe, pleeease?" He was nestled by her side again, this time with his eyebrows strung up in the middle of his head; knees bent and hands clasped beneath his chin. "Where's she s'posed to go?"

Raven sighed. "There's a cat home downtown. We can look their number up." She turned from him to pace over to her vanity. There, she flicked on the mirror light and plucked out the hair tie from her half-up do.

There was movement in the reflection. "But Willow's shy! What if the other cats bully her?"

She went still. The dark eyes that met him in the mirror were like blackened coals.

"... Willow," Raven repeated. He could've sworn her temple pulsed. "You named her."

Garfield's own eyes flicked around the room, as if trying to find someone else who might've said it. It was just them.

"Uh..." He let a faint chuckle slip. "It was more like, she told me her name?"

He watched her turn her back to the mirror, confronting him head-on. "Cats don't talk."

"Well they talk to me."

"Not about their names!"

"M'roww."

The rising commotion had drawn a low mew from that spot on the bed. Both Titans stopped to gauge the other presence.

Just as Raven's lips went to move, Changeling shushed her.

"Shhhshsh, what's that 'Lo?" He inched closer to the edge of the bed, till he was near enough to scoop the black bundle into his hands. The cat's face was raised to his tapered ear. "You want Mommy and Daddy to stop fighting?"

Raven's forehead landed in her hand.

"You wanna know why the mean lady hates you?" he went on, bringing Willow over to his girlfriend. "When all you ever wanted was to cuddle and be loved?"

Those puppy-dog eyes appeared again, staring at her from over two kitty ears. Raven glowered, crossed her arms and tapped a finger.

"She talks a lot for being so 'shy'."

Gar smiled. "That's 'cos she trusts me. We have a connection." Willow was readjusted in his hold so he could touch their noses together. "Right?"

Raven's hands went up. "I'm out." And she went to literally leave the room.

Before she could reach the door, the changeling was scurrying again, until he'd pushed his way in front of her, blocking her exit. His arms stretched out to present the cat's eyes before hers.

They were like glittering, golden disks, planted in a mass of glossy black fur. And though the mouth beneath those white whiskers did not move, their guest spoke to her.

"Please don't send me to the cat home, mean lady!" The sorceress winced. "It's so cold and scary there." Funny how Willow sounded very much like a high-pitched version of Gar. Funny how she'd started to lick herself in the middle of this plea. "I wanna stay with you and the nice, attractive man!"

Here, she peeked over those fluffy ears to reach his hopeful face.

"What?" he grinned. "She said it."

He felt the weight of her stare for what might've been a minute more. Then, for the last time, she sighed.

"One night. In the morning, we'll talk."

Changeling breathed in a great, dramatic gasp. "You hear that, Willow?!" Still licking herself. "The mean lady said yes!"

"The mean lady did not say yes." Finally free, Raven paced out of the bedroom and back into the hallway. "She's just tired, and wants to sit down with her tea."

"I know, Gar!" The bouncy voice was back. "I can't believe it! Maybe she's not so mean after all."

A set of dark eyes rolled. "I wouldn't go that far."

She had the warm, inviting sofa in sight when her boyfriend set down the stray and swept her up instead. A tiny cry fled her throat at the feel of solid arms taking her by the waist and spinning her off her feet. After two twirls, he lowered her, though his arms only tightened.

"You're such a softie, Rae," the shifter smirked, waggling his brows.

"I didn't say—"

Well, now she couldn't say anything. Not with how his mouth had exultantly claimed her own.

Raven came home at around 06.15pm. He heard the clink of the door shutting, the jingle of keys, then footsteps - one, two, three, four, five.

"I am so tired."

He was on the couch with his legs stretched out onto the footrest, some brain-numbing drivel playing on the TV. Willow pranced over from his lap to greet her. She was briskly accompanied by Maisy 'she needs a friend' the Tabby, Pepper 'I'm feeling outnumbered by girls' the British Shorthair, Iago 'but you like birds, they're your thing!' the parakeet, and Calypso 'just hear me ou— wait, yes?' the tortoise.

"Hey," he smiled lovingly over at her, then stood to meet her in the middle. She went straight to him, surprising him a little when she practically fell into his chest for a hug. Guess it had been a long day.

Gar pulled her into his embrace, beginning to sway them gently side to side.

"Can we just cancel on Wally and Jinx?" Raven mumbled into his neck. "I want to order pizza and watch a movie. You can choose."

He withheld the sigh that rose up in him. That was kind of good news and kind of bad news.

"Sure, baby." He kissed her hairline. "We can cancel."

She hummed in approval.

The hug dragged out for as long as both of them could let it. Eventually, Gar's voice perked up again.

"... Raven?"

"Mm?"

"You know I love you, right?"

The swaying stopped. Her eyes raised to stare at the empty sofa across the room.

"... Where is it."

He gulped. "In the closet."

"What is it."

Silence.

Raven pulled back and held him by the shoulders.

"Gar."

"A goat."

A...

She wasn't sure why, but for a second, she didn't believe him. She had to see for herself.

His girlfriend was down the hallway like a missile. The door was flung open, and where she expected to have to open another, she realised such a thing was not needed, for this goat had shoved its way out of their closet and was currently in the centre of the floor, chewing a hole through some long, blue fabric.

"Gandalf, no!" Changeling shot into the room and immediately tackled him for the cloak. Raven's fingers rose to her lips, trying and failing to push back her smile.

Azar, it was a good thing she loved him.

Author's Note:

i've always been on the fence about the whole 'titans move out of the tower to live in their own apartments' concept. it makes sense from a personal point of view, but from a crime-fighting point of view, staying in one building together makes a lot more sense. and i really don't like the idea of them splitting off as a team. i like my found families to stay together, thank you very much.

that's the only reason this didn't earn the '...' those little dots are reserved for the ideal timeline, and i'm just not sure i'd like them moving out till they're settling down with their own families in my ideal timeline.

having said that, i'm 100% on board with the idea of rae one day having a black cat (just to fit the cliche 'witch vibe' more) that she initially pretends to hate but very quickly becomes attached to when it repeatedly forces its love on her. the second part of this is more just a joke. i definitely don't think she would entertain anything beyond one cat, two at MOST, and gar would respect that!

(p.s. he burned the pancakes.)