Here we are again, my duckies! On with the show! I don't own Teen Titans!

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BARCODE

Chapter 10: Bath

"Alright man, if you see me getting' all up on you with the scrubber thing and stuff, don't panic on me –" Cyborg said. "'Cuz I ain't like that, so no worries, huh?" Garfield had been carefully led to the bathroom and was sitting on the toilet, staring at his new metal friend. Cyborg had coaxed him there with nutter butters and a trail of M&M's, being the one drafted to bathe their new 'friend.' Raven had told him bits and pieces of what Garfield knew how to say, and he tried to simplify so he would understand. "Wash… now…" he said slowly, holding up the scrubber.

Garfield watched as Cyborg leaned over and turned the faucet of the tub on and put the stopper in the drain. He watched in absolute fascination as the metal man put in bubble bath, and the bubbles started forming. He took the bottle when Cyborg had set it down, looking at the lettering. "S…S…" he struggled with the words, and Cyborg looked up just in time for him to say, "Scrub-a-Dub soap!" quite loudly.

"Yeah!" Cyborg grinned, amazed at him. "Maybe this won't be so bad after a… hey, don't eat that!" They wrestled with the bubble bath bottle, tugging back and forth until Garfield let go and laughed. "Grrr…" Cyborg was trying to be patient. "Okay, its full of water. In the tub!" he gestured. Garfield stood up and imitated his gesture, trying to understand. "In… the… tub-buh!" Cyborg said slowly and loudly.

"Tub!" Garfield said, happy he'd learned two new words from his new friend. "Scrub-a-Dub soap tub!" He laughed aloud, amused at how the words sounded so much alike.

"Uh… yeah." Cyborg said, eyeing his boxers. He wasn't a homophobic… but this was gonna get awkward for him if he didn't –!

"Blaaaaaagh!" Garfield decided right then to touch the bubbles, and Cyborg shoved him right in! There was hysteria from both sides, wrestling back and forth! Soap was flying everywhere, even out into the hall and on the bathroom mirror. Cyborg tried to dunk him several times, but he was just too stubborn to –! Cyborg suddenly lost his footing because of the wet floor… both of them were suddenly in the tub together.

Cyborg came slowly up, sitting in the water next to him. He sprayed some water out of his mouth, glaring at him sideways. "…I hate you." Cyborg grunted, shoving the scrubber into Garfield's hand.

"Scrub-a-dub! In the tub! Scrub-a-dub!" Garfield chirped, smiling as he actually figured out the purpose of the scrubber. He dipped it in the soapy water… and scrubbed the top of Cyborg's bald head. Swish-swish, went the brush. Swish-swish. Swish-swish. Cyborg sat there, grumbling to himself and looking annoyed with the whole world. Swish-swish. Swish-swish.

"Well… this is interesting." Raven had appeared in the doorway, looking rather amused that Garfield had gotten the better of Cyborg. "Weren't you supposed to give him the bath or something?" She teased him in a monotone.

"Shut up." Cyborg muttered.

"Scrub-a-dub, Raven!" Garfield grinned, standing in the tub. Raven averted her eyes, but saw out of the corner of one that he still had boxers on. "Raven scrub-a-dub?" he asked, gesturing with the scrubber.

Raven put up both hands. "No thanks. Looks like you've got plenty of company as it is." Garfield dashed towards the door and out of the tub. Raven's powers reacted, slamming the door. He hit the door with a yelp, falling flat on his back. Stunned for the moment, he lay there with his eyes in swirls.

Cyborg seized the opportunity and grabbed him around the middle. Stuffing him back in the tub, he washed the green teen as best he could before the confused wild thing started squirming again. "Towel." Cyborg showed it to him as he got out the bath. "You tried to give Raven one, right? I'll show you." He got another from the bathroom closet for himself, and mimed drying off. Garfield followed the suite, and found out on his own what the towel was for. When he was dry, he stood staring at the door. Cyborg saw the opportunity to teach him something, and pointed at the doorknob. "Door…knob…" He slowly reached and turned it, pulling the door open. Garfield's eyes lit up, and Cyborg shut the door again. "Now you." He said, gesturing.

"Dude…" he murmured, approaching the door like it might bite him. He reached slowly, grasping the doorknob and turning it… and the door pulled open! "Doorknob, dude!" he shouted, praising himself for his own genius. He placed his fist on his hips, posing dynamically. Cyborg smiled. A little nonsense now and then… in exchange for a good lesson… why not? It was time to go to bed, though.

Cyborg led Garfield to the common room with a big question. "Where's the little grass stain sleeping? I mean, we can't just leave him alone. He might decide to eat the TV remote or… jump out a window or… something…" he trailed off, looking at Robin and Raven.

A silent vote was made, and all three boys stared at Raven. "…No." she snapped, looking up from her book. "No way in –"

"Hell…" Raven muttered, sitting in her own bed. Garfield was curled up at the foot of her bed, a nest of spare blankets around him. "Mmm…" Raven regarded him closely, as though he might pounce on her at any moment. There was a male… in her room. Raven knew she wouldn't find sleep easily with that thought in mind. She shut her eyes, finally laying back and heaving a sigh. The clock had read eleven-thirty, so even the green teen had to sleep around this hour.

Raven had wanted to read, but that might rouse him from his sleep and make him want to jump on the bed. She'd very harshly taught him to stay off the bed. When he'd tried to get on it with her, she'd zapped him so hard his hair had stood out. Harsh, but effective. Raven made sure he was asleep one more time… then started drifting. An Edgar Allen Poe quote suddenly came to her mind, "Ah, sleep… those little slices of death. How I loath them." Feeling satisfied that she'd said something effectively gothic to end her day, she almost didn't notice a pair of emerald eyes staring at her from three inches away. "ACK!" Raven's bed jumped off the floor and slammed back down again. Shaken, she glared angrily at him. He was peering at her from the side of the bed. "What? What do you want?" she grunted, looking at him accusingly. He said nothing, but made a little whining sound in his throat. "What?" she said again. He gestured with his eyes to Raven's happy/sad statue, something she'd just picked up when she'd moved to Titan's Tower. She suddenly realized how… creepy… it looked at night. Garfield gave a smaller, more timid whine. Surely something small and innocent would sway her? Garfield searched his mind of all the animals he knew and had seen… he transformed into a tiny kitten, looking at her with big wet eyes. Even Raven couldn't find it in her heart to resist that. "Fine." She gestured, and the little green cat jumped onto the bed. "But if you try anything… anything at all… its your ass." She knew he didn't understand, but she felt better in saying it. The little kitten cuddled up to her, purring loudly as it found shelter under the covers with her.

She held it in her arms, the warmth of its fur spreading across her chest. He curled gently into a little ball of green fur, finally at peace in her arms. Raven heaved a quiet sigh, reaching out with her powers. Her closet opened, and the happy/sad statue slowly levitated inside. The closet closed quietly. "Just for now." Raven murmured, laying her head back on her pillow. "Garfield, you better make some good progress." She whispered, stroking the green kitten's fur absently. "This can't go on or we might…" she didn't finish the sentence immiediatly, blushing. She vividly remembered the tiger tongue on her back, and she guiltily turned a deeper red. But, she came up with more proper words than what she was going to say, "We might make a big mistake." She was shifting uncomfortably, holding her powers back by a thread. But, eventually, sleep found her as well.

Raven awoke the next morning on her back. The green kitten was gone, and she sat up right away. Where had he gone? Had one of the boys come and taken him? A soft rustling was in her closet and she stood, making her way slowly across the room. "This won't be good…" Raven muttered, ready for the worst. She reached with one hand, pulling the closet door open.

"See Raven!" Garfield declared, jumping out and presenting himself to her. Raven stared, her eyebrow twitching. He had taken one of her outfits off of the hanger, and put it on himself. The cloak was shamefully wrinkled, the hood up his head and almost down to his nose. He had to tilt his head back to look at her, and then smiled. "See, Raven?" he asked.

Raven sighed, sweat-dropping. The chest area of the outfit he was wearing was loose, and the crotch was way too tight. "Yeah… I see." Raven resigned that he was actually wearing clothes… and grabbed him by the ear. He yelped, following her to surpress the pain. She led him rather comically to the common room, where Cyborg and Robin were already up and at the breakfast table. "Give. Him. CLOTHES." Raven said slowly and stonily. She pushed him out of the elevator while the two confused Titans stared. The twin doors hissed shut, and Raven was gone.

"Uh…" Cyborg looked at Garfield critically. He had tried one of Raven's costumes on? Robin and Cyborg looked at him, then at each other… then burst out laughing! "He's… in…. Raven's…" he couldn't even string a sentence together he was laughing so hard. "You think you're Raven now?" He asked.

"I Garfield!" he said, smiling at them both.

"Wow, he got that one…" Robin said. "Raven must've taught him a little more than she let on." He stroked his chin, "But, she's right. If he's ever gonna be one of us. He's going to need his own costume. He can't wear my boxers and nothing else forever… he can borrow some of my street shorts. Raven's gonna kill him if we don't get some of this burden off of her…"

"Raven?" Garfield asked, recognizing the name.

"No, I'm Robin." Robin said. "Rob… in." he said slowly. "Robin… Cyborg… Garfield…" he gestured to each of the names' owners.

"And Raven?" Garfield asked, only seeming to be interested in the girl not present. Robin sighed, rubbing his temple.

"Yeah, Raven too." Cyborg said, seeing his leader's frustration right away. "Let's start with breakfast and work from there, eh?" he pretty much tore him out of Raven's outfit, pitching it on the sofa. Then, he steered Garfield to the table and made him sit. "Okay, dude–"

"Dude!" Garfield shouted, recognizing the word.

Cyborg sighed, bringing a bowl, spoon, milk, and a box of Captain Alphabets. "This ain't gonna end well, but we gotta try anyway, right?" Robin nodded, and they made sure Garfield watched as they poured the cereal, the milk and set the spoon in the bowl. "Alright… try it."

"Try… it?" Garfield said, carefully surveying the bowl of cereal and the spoon. He stared at it for a long, long time. Both Robin and Cyborg were getting a little impatient, because the green teen had no idea what to do.

"C'mon, at least make an effort!" Robin pounded the table with his fist, scolding him.

"EFFORT!" Garfield squealed. He panicked when he was scolded, pounding the table to imitate. But in the process he pounded the spoon, catapaulting Cyborg right in the eye with cereal and milk!

"…I hate you." The metal man was looking at Robin this time, who was sweat dropping in embarrassment. It was Cyborg's annoyed-at-the-whole-world glare, and even Robin dared not make a comeback to that.

"Effort! Effort!" Garfield sang, jumping up from the table and running around the common room.

Cyborg rested his head on an elbow. "We can't even get through breakfast with this guy… call Raven back, man." Robin nodded in agreement. She was the only one that could control him effectively.

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Will Cyborg ever get all the cereal out of his eye? Will Garfield ever stop dancing and learn something on purpose? Will Raven ever see him naked again? Well… maybe not for that last one… ; Well, there's more to see so stay tuned, my adoring fans!