Disclaimer: I don't own Teen titans or The tale of Despereaux

The world is dark, and light is precious.

Come closer, dear reader.

You must trust me.

I am telling you a story.

-Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux

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Chapter 2: Hearing Honey

Garverde lived.

But his mere existence was cause for much commotion in the community of mice living in the castle.

"He's the smallest mouse there has ever been." His aunt stated. "It's completely ridiculous, there has never been such a small mouse, ever!" She looked at him with her eyes narrowed, as if expecting him to vanish entirely.

Garverde looked back at her and wrapped his green tail around his feet.

"Just look at those ears too!" His uncle criticized. "They look like donkey ears, not mice ears, too big to be mice ears."

"Don't even get me started on his color!" His second cousin put in. "What kind of mouse is green? It's entirely unnatural!"

"And that fang!" someone yelled, "Absurd!"

Garverde smiled and stuck his fang out even more, his aunt gasped.

"They say he was born with his eyes open." whispered his uncle.

Garverde stared hard at him.

"Imposable," said his aunt, "No mouse, however green, pointy fanged, terribly small and absurdly large eared, is ever born with his eyes open. Ever! It simply isn't done."

"His father says he's not well." said another gossiping relative.

Garverde sneezed, just to prove their point.

He didn't defend himself, didn't tell them to back off. Why would he, how could he? He had huge ears, as well as a pointy fang, olive green fur, and he was terribly small too. He had been born with his eyes open, and he was very sickly. He coughed and sneezed all the time, he ran fevers, he fainted. He wasn't interested in mouse-type of things, more in human type things. It was like he wasn't meant to be a mouse at all.

Days went by and they started to lose interest in the alarming mouse, Once while the family was out on a hunting for crumbs, he stopped, cocked his head to the side, and listened, holding still.

"Do you hear that sound?" he asked, "That sweet, sweet sound?"

"Cake crumbs, falling and hitting the floor, bread, shaken off of table clothes, now left for us." Mento said. "That's what I hear.

"No…" Garverde shook his head. "It's something else, something sweet, it sounds like… um… icing on a cake… or perhaps honey."

"You might have elephant ears." Mento commented, "But theirs no brain inside that head of yours. You can't hear honey, you smell it track it down and eat it. When there is honey that you can smell, which there isn't."

"Gar!" Garverde's father barked at him, "Stop making things up, hunt for crumbs, and get your head out of your imaginary honey!"

"Please Gar," his mother said sadly "Hunt for the crumbs. You are such a disappointment already, make you mother happy, eat them, you are already so skinny…. Such a disappointment." She sighed.

"I'm sorry." Gar said. He put his nose to the ground and sniffed ritually at the castle floor.

But Garverde was not smelling.

He was listening, with his obscenely big ears, to the sweet sound, the honey sound, that no other mouse except him could her. Honey pouring and coating him in its delightfulness.

Another chapter, whew. Sorry if Garverde seems a little OC, but remember his personality is being mixed with Despereaux's. If you like it, hate it, think its okay, or have a comment PLEASE REVIEW! It will only take you 10 seconds, but will bring a day of joy to this treehuggin author. The other titans will appear soon –wink wink--