...
In the modern era, people look for love in the form of online dating. The internet has enabled people to find and introduce themselves to potential connections over the world wide web, usually with the goal of developing personal, romantic, or sexual relationships.
But now with the convenience of having a computer in your pocket, dating apps have made online dating more convenient than ever.
With the variety of apps to choose from, you can give your prospective dates a true idea of how you live your life.
Dating apps match couples based on their physical attraction to one another. It alerts you of other users, who fall within a specified age range, gender, and are within a certain distance of your location.
By simply uploading a picture of yourself and including a brief description about the kind of hobbies, interests, and values that define your personality, you can find the perfect match for you.
But Garfield was struggling to find that perfect match.
He always enjoyed being a superhero, and the celebrity status that came with it. He loved the attention, and basked in the fame. But he was quick to learn the downfall when he ventured into online dating.
At first, he loved the enthusiastic fangirls, eager to voice their incessant infatuation with him. He had many hidden insecurities about his unusual appearance, so it was nice to hear girls voicing how amazing and undeniably attractive they found him.
They were flirty and a bit nymphomaniac, and being the young bachelor that he was, he enjoyed taking advantage of that.
But it eventually got old, and it wasn't long before he started longing for a real connection with someone. He was tired of the meaningless flings, girls that were only after his celebrity status, or worse, some bestiality kink. He wanted a real relationship, he wanted love.
Garfield sat on the living room couch, disappointedly staring at his phone.
Yesterday was another failed date.
Grace seemed great at first. She was very pretty, had a great smile, and showed a clear interest in him. But after the date was over, Grace showed a different side to her. A scary side that was into leather and whips.
Garfield was all for trying something new, but that was pushing his threshold.
So now he sat, slumped into the couch, a frustrated expression on his face as he went to Grace's profile and clicked block.
He went back to his notification, sighing heavily at the lack of activity. His phone wasn't going off as much as it used to. Ever since he started ignoring the fangirls, he had been receiving less matches.
He wasn't sure what he was doing wrong? Why was it so hard to find someone that would look past the hero title and superpowers?
But he was forced to put the thought aside as the trouble alarm started blaring throughout the room.
Garfield put his phone in his pocket, and he jumped up from the couch as each one of his friends rushed into the room.
Richard immediately went to the computer, looking up what triggered the alarm.
It was a simple robbery at a jewelry store with masked thugs. Nothing extreme, and easy to handle. And the Titans didn't hesitate to spring into action, getting dressed in their uniforms, and rushing out the door.
Once arriving at the scene, Richard was quick to form a plan of attack. There were five robbers and five Titans. The store had three exits, one in front, one in back, and one on the roof.
Richard split the team up. Victor and himself took the most visible exit, the front. Being that Kori could fly and was by herself, she took the lest probable exit, the roof. And being the sneakiest, Raven and Garfield took the back.
The plan was to remain hidden until Richard's signal before ambushing the thieves.
Garfield and Raven discreetly leaned against the wall of the building in the back alley, waiting for Richard's signal. It was quiet, not a sound could be heard, until a match notification went off in Garfield's pocket.
Garfield's eyes widened as he stilled at the sound.
Raven abruptly turned to him with her eyes wide. "You didn't silence your phone!" She whispered harshly.
"I forgot." He whispered back.
He quickly reached into his pocket and muted his phone. But while he had his phone out, curiosity beckoned him to open up the app and see the new match. He went to the message she sent just to sigh in disappointment.
"Does she not fit your standards?" Raven asked bitterly, rolling her eyes.
"Well, she's asking for my social security number, so not so much no." He informed her.
Almost as frequently as he got messages from fangirls, did he also get messages from scammers. People disguising themselves as attractive women and asking men for bank accounts and socials.
"Is it so bad to want to find a decent girl that isn't obsessed with me?" He asked.
Raven rolled her eyes before catching Richard's signal. "He gave the signal, let's go!" She said, rushing through the backdoor and into the building.
Startled, Garfield almost dropped his phone, quickly catching it and shoving it into his pocket. He followed in Raven's haste, rushing into the building, and bolting into battle.
Each Titan paired with a criminal, fighting with the single goal of detaining them.
Garfield was relieved that the robbers were average masked thugs, not super villains, or trained assassins. And he was even more pleased to discover that his paired foe did not match his skill level of fighting.
He didn't even need to shape shift and was easily able to detain him with his bare hands.
After restraining his opponent, Garfield turned to see each one of his teammates restraining their masked men. Except Raven.
Apparently, Raven got the leader of the group, who's skill level exceeded the others. And while he didn't compete with her level, he still put up a decent fight.
Raven was clearly off her game today, letting her emotions get the better of her. All it took was for her opponent to strike her in the back of her head, for her to whip around with hostel rage and increasing her power level to an excessive amount.
Seeing Raven's hostility, and not trusting the level of control she had over it, Richard intervened. He ordered Raven to back down as he detained the criminal himself.
Richard's interference did not help with Raven's temperamental state. And she was forced to distance herself from the other members of the team to try and relax and calm down.
But while the others knew to give Raven her space when she was angry, Garfield struggled with the concept.
He could see Raven was upset, and he understood all too well how frustrating it can be for Richard to go leader mode and undermine you.
So when he watched Raven storm out of the common room after they arrived back at the tower, he felt compelled to follow her.
"Raven, wait up." He called, chasing her down the hall.
She didn't stop walking as he caught up to her, mimicking her pace as they strutted down the hall.
"What?" She said curtly, her tone short, indicating her frustration.
"Are you okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned. "I know Richard can be harsh when he goes all Undermining Leader."
"I'm fine." She shot back, proving that she wasn't.
"Oh come on Rae, I don't need to be an empath to see you're upset." He said, trying to lighten the mood. "Richard has lectured me more than anyone, so I know what you're going through."
She abruptly stopped and turned to him.
"Do not act like you get what I'm going through!" She told him harshly, "Now go back to your stupid dating app and mind your own business." She finished before walking past him, trudging to her room.
Garfield sighed in frustration.
He never liked seeing one of his friends upset, and he often tried in some way to cheer them up. But unfortunately, his efforts never seemed to work on Raven. No matter how hard he tried, he only seemed to anger her more. But that didn't stop him from giving up trying.
...
"Okay, what about that one?" Victor asked, looking over Garfield's shoulder, pointing at one of the girls that sent him a private message.
"Are you even reading the message, Vic." Garfield said, glaring at him.
"Yeah, she's asking for your phone number."
"And my bank account number." He added.
Victor grit his teeth. "Oh, yeah. That's a red flag." He said scrolling down the messages. "What about her? He asked.
"Another scammer." Garfield responded with a sigh.
"What? How can you tell?"
"Man, look closer, her picture is Scarlett Johansson."
Victor squinted at the screen. "Oh, yep, I see it." He said as the common doors opened, and Raven walked into the room.
Victor might have paid no mind to her, but considering what happened yesterday, Garfield was still worried.
He watched her as she walked past them and into the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.
"How are you doing today?" He asked and his question immediately triggered her powers to crack the glass cup on the counter.
"This again?" She said harshly, turning to face him. "You need to focus more on your problems and stay out of mine."
"Forget I asked." He said, raising his hands defensively.
Raven slammed the refrigerator door before turning, marching out of the room.
"I don't know why she gets so savage." Garfield said bitterly.
"She's just in one of her moods." Victor said, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know why you always feel the need to consult her."
"We are her friends." He reminded. "We are supposed to try and cheer her up."
"Yet you always seem to upset her more." Victor told him. "You need to give her space."
Garfield rolled his eyes before turning back to the problem in his hands. He let out a heavy sigh as he glanced back at his phone, deleting all the scammer messages he had received.
"Can you stop pouting about your phone, you're depressing me." Victor said, walking into the kitchen and throwing away Raven's cracked glass.
Garfield sighed again. "I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong?" He said, tapping on his screen.
"Didn't you just go on a date a couple days ago? What happened to her?" Victor asked, leaning himself over the table.
"Grace freaked me out." Garfield said, raising his hands. "I mean I am totally open to things getting kinky, but even I have a limit." He said picturing all the toys she proposed, and he visibly shivered.
Victor couldn't help but relatable chuckle. "I get it man; I struggled with my own neurotic fans when I entered the world of online dating."
Garfield stared at him questionably.
Victor had been steadily dating a girl named Marcy for a while now, and as far as he could tell, she wasn't obsessed with the powers or superhero title.
"So how did you find Marcy then?" He asked. "She seems cool, and as far as I can tell she isn't..." He paused looking for the word. "Crazy."
Victor straightened himself as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "You really wanna know how I got away from the crazy fangirls?"
"Man, you make it sound like it's some big secret." Garfield said, looking at him curiously.
Victor shook his head. "It's not a secret, I am just a little embarrassed about it."
"Okay, so tell me." Garfield said eagerly.
"I asked Raven for help."
Garfield couldn't help but burst out in heavy laughter, causing Victor to narrow his eyes and glare at him.
"Are you done?" He asked in annoyance.
Garfield took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "You got help from the Ice Queen? Raven doesn't even date, how could she possibly help you?"
"She's really only the Ice Queen to you." Victor informed him. "And she's smart. She knows what girls look for in a guy. And with that knowledge, she helped me fix my profile, made it more appealing to someone who was looking for a more meaningful connection."
Garfield stared at him skeptically. "And that really worked?"
"I mean, it helped me find Marcy." Victor said, shrugging his shoulders. "So, if you are really desperate, and I think you are. Ask Raven to help you."
Garfield knew Raven wouldn't help him as easily as she helped Victor. Raven wasn't really keen on doing him any favors, and considering what just happened, it wasn't any secret as to why.
He annoyed her, there was no denying that. With him continually seeking her attention, and constantly playing practical jokes on her, it was easy for her to feel exasperated towards him.
While the others saw Garfield's practical jokes as meaningless fun, Raven saw them as immature aggravations. And while he should have taken her extreme dislike for his pranks as a warning to not prank her, he took it as a challenge.
But he hadn't done anything in months. He was too preoccupied with the dating scene to pull any prank like shenanigans.
But despite that, the glass cup in the trash showed that Raven wasn't exactly fond of him at the moment. And he was smart enough to know this wasn't the best time to ask for a favor.
...