"Good morning lovely teammates," Garfield says, arms raised high in the air as the common room doors open up. He looks amusedly at his friends. Nightwing had stopped in the middle of pouring his coffee, his sleepy, swollen eyes blinking tiredly at him. Cyborg had paused mid chew. Starfire had been in the middle of releasing her hair from her ponytail. They look like a funny little tableau. Changeling chuckles.
"Sunrise. I thought I'd have to project you into the ocean to wake you up," Raven says. But she doesn't look shocked. In fact her eyes are closed and she remains in a semi-meditative state.
"You know today is always a fun day for all of us," Changeling says, taking his frozen bananas and pineapples out of the freezer. "Rae, do you want me to make you an acai bowl too?"
"Please," she says, now dropping her feet delicately on the ground.
"Coming right up," he says, humming "La Vie en Rose" to himself. "Are we all packed up for today?" he asks, dumping the purple puree into two bowls.
"The T-Car is stacked with water balloons, books, goodies, gifts, board games. It's gonna be a good one this year," Cyborg says, clapping his hands together. Star exclaims something in Tameranean before swirling in the air and gripping Nightwing in a tight hug. He moves his mug out of the way just in time and smiles into her shoulder. Changeling feels a similar exuberance bubbling in his chest. Similar to the feeling he gets when he's running in animal form.
It was the beginning of their annual field days. Titans from all over the country came together and visited beaches and parks all over the country for a week to partake in summertime activities with foster kids all over the country. This year, festivities started in Jump City. Seeing as most Titans were orphaned or had strained relationships with their own parents, this week always meant a lot to everyone involved in it.
"Bumblebee says they already landed. Says the beach is packed. Are y'all ready to go?" Cyborg says, looking up from the arm he was reading the message from. Starfire is already dragging Nightwing to the car; Changeling hot on their heels. Cyborg sends an amused smile to Raven who is in the middle of placing her empty bowl into the sink. Cyborg cocks his head as Raven bites her lip, lost in thought.
"You okay Raven?" Cyborg says. Raven shakes her head, dropping the bowl clumsily into the sink. She looks at Cyborg and nods; he looks to her scrunched up eyebrows. She follows his eyesight and rubs her hands over her brows like she's smoothing out the crinkles in a paper.
"Yeah, you know me and big crowds. Just a little...loud." Raven says. Cyborg nods, understanding.
"You can leave whenever you want." Cyborg says.
"Yeah. I meditated a little more than usual," Raven says and starts walking towards the T Car. Cyborg senses that something remains unsaid as he follows after her.
…
It's almost 3 pm when Garfield transforms from a tiger back into his human self and jogs to the snack table. He is having the time of his life.
The Titans are good with kids. There is absolutely no denying it. Starfire is radiant and bubbly. She was excited to make as many light spectacles as the children asked her to. Cyborg is great at football. Aqualad is great at sensing multiple children in the water at once. Nightwing is a skilled gymnast and never ran out of energy. Kids loved rocks and Terra could always find the coolest shaped ones to give out. Garfield likes to think the kids loved him as well. He is a walking petting zoo and ever since he started his acting career, the teenagers like hanging out with him too. And Raven...hmm, he hadn't seen Raven in a while. Changeling looks around, sipping lazily from the almost empty water bottle he has just picked up. And then he spots her.
In typical Raven fashion, she is away from the crowds. She is heading towards a small girl with two cute afro puffs with pink ribbons. The girl's face is contorted into a pained expression and both her hands are pressed tightly to her ears. She looks maybe four, definitely not older than six.
"That's Jordan. She's new to our group home," says someone approaching Garfield on his left. Garfield looks at the teenage girl with orange pigtails and a shy smile on her face.
"Hi," the girl says, blushing profusely as if she said something embarrassing. "I-" she clears her throat. "I'm Becca. A volunteer."
"Hello Becca," Garfield says cheerfully, a little amused. "You said the girl's new?"
"Yeah, Jordan came in a couple weeks ago."
"How old is she?"
"Five."
"And she's-" Garfield hesitates. He doesn't want to assume.
"Autistic?" Becca finishes for him. Changeling nods. "Yes, she's the most loving little girl. She actually loves the Titans. She just hates changes in her routine a little more," says Becca. As if on cue, Garfield hears a pained screech from the corner of the beach. He cringes and puts down his water bottle. He begins to transition into a hummingbird.
"Wait!" Becca says. Changeling turns to the teen girl.
"Yeah?" he asks. Her blush becomes so severe that it almost obscures all the freckles on her cheeks.
"Could I-" Garfield swears she squeals. "Could I get an autograph sir?...Please?" she asks looking down at her flip flops. Garfield smiles so widely his cheeks hurt.
"Of course," he says, taking the young girl's clipboard from her.
"I...um...loved you in that new comedy with Seth Rogan. Me and my mom watched it like thirty times," she says, still not looking up from her shoes.
"Thank you," Garfield says, hoping that the deep gratitude he feels in his heart is seeping into his words. "You are doing amazing work here Becca." Becca peaks up at Garfield through her lashes, at this point, her face looks painfully red. He chuckles and writes 'Cute pigtails. Love, Gar.'
"You said her name was Jordan?" Garfield asks. Becca nods.
"Thank you Becca," Garfield sings, handing her her clipboard, quickly transforming and flying towards the crying young girl.
Garfield lands on a boulder near Raven and Jordan. He doesn't want to startle them. He doesn't make a move, just listens intently for the right time to interject. At this point, Raven has already knelt in front of the young girl who is looking up at Raven with big wet eyes.
"Hi," Raven says. People have described Raven's voice in many ways. Monotone. Raspy. Sleepy. But he's never heard anyone call it gentle. Right now, it's as soft as the inside of a rose.
"I'm Raven." Jordan is swaying from foot to foot, tears streaming steadily down her face. "Someone told me your name is Jordan." Jordan whimpers softly in response, boogers starting to flow from her nose.
"Is it okay if I move your arms?" Raven asks. She is about to move Jordan's hands from her ears when the girl lets out a heart shattering sob. Raven quickly drops her hands.
"I'm sorry," Raven says, and Jordan settles down a little. Raven moves a little closer. If it wasn't for Garfield's enhanced hearing he wouldn't be able to hear their conversation.
"You don't like big crowds do you?" Raven asks softly. "That's okay, me neither. They can get really loud," Raven says, placing her own hands over her ears. Raven's made it clear to the team that she's an empath but it isn't really a power people can see. Right now though, Garfield can only see two people who are attempting to see each other on another level. Jordan looks at Raven intently. Tears are still streaming down her face but her full body sobs have quieted down to small intermittent whimpers.
"Your friend Maria-" Raven gestures towards the volunteer about ten feet away. Beast Boy hadn't even recognized her. "Tells me that you like the ocean. Maybe you and I can float on the ocean together?" Raven asks, getting up and wiping sand off her knees. Raven's eyes start to glow and suddenly her dark energy forms a solid, raft-like structure. Jordan takes a few fearful steps back.
"It's okay Jordan, this is safe. We'll be safe," Raven says in a very low voice, demonstrating Jordan's safety by walking onto the raft herself. Jordan looks on in wonder but remains glued to her spot. Garfield figures this is the perfect time to intervene. He transforms himself into a shih tzu and walks slowly over to Jordan.
"Look Jordan, a dog. Maria says you love dogs too," Raven says. Garfield didn't even think Raven recognized he was there the whole time. When Jordan sees the small dog, her hands fall away for her ears. Changeling walks closely to Jordan and nudges at her small palm with his nose. She looks down at Garfield and hums, a small smile breaking onto her face. Garfield feels his body thrum with pride as he snuggles into the young girls legs. She brings two fists up to her now wide smile and squeals loudly. Garfield begins to jump around excitedly, then skillfully leads Jordan onto the dark energy raft that Raven has crafted for them. Jordan squeals again when Raven lifts them off the sandy ground and levitates them over the waves.
"Eeeee!" Jordan says, swaying from foot to foot as a wave splashes up over Raven's raft and wets Jordan's tiny little feet. Garfield runs circles around her. Stopping only so Jordan can rub behind his ears and squeeze him towards her chest.
And they continue like that for hours, until the sun starts to sink. Changeling wonders more than once, how long Raven can keep this projection going without exhausting herself. Still, it never wavers. In fact Raven occasionally jolts the raft back and forth because Jordan lets out an excited squeal whenever the waves hit her feet. It isn't until Jordan starts falling asleep, her head falling onto Changeling's dog form's back that Raven starts to bring them back to shore. By then, the beach had settled down a little. Many children and volunteers had started heading back home. Changeling turns back into his human form and snuggles the sweet girl to his chest much like she had done before. In an embrace that radiated nothing but affection. Raven let her energy dissolve beneath them.
Maria was waiting at the shore to pick Jordan up. Garfield tried his hardest to move Jordan into Maria's embrace without waking her up but Jordan shifts in Maria's arms and wiggles out of her arms. She does a little trott to Raven and squeezes her legs tightly. Raven's eyes widen, and she places a hand in the space where Jordan's hair is parted. Changeling swears he sees Raven's eyes glaze over with tears.
Raven kneels down in front of the girl and places two hands on her shoulders.
"I'll come see you soon." Raven promises. Maria scoops the tired girl up in her arms.
"She's usually never that affectionate with anyone she just meets," Maria says, smiling warmly at Raven. She places a grateful hand on Raven's shoulder and walks away.
Garfield feels something catch in his throat as he looks at Raven looking at the departing girl. She's been curling her hair lately. The curve of her ear poking out from her purple waves of hair is something he never thought he could be transfixed by. Her eyes, still a little wet with happy tears, look even more purple than usual and Garfield is reminded of the posters Rita used to have of portraits of a soft lit Elizabeth Taylor. Raven looks so...soft. Gar swallows past something thick in his throat.
"You were...really gentle with her," Garfield says, feeling like he needs to fill the silence with something. Raven looks towards Jordan a little while longer before turning to Garfield to respond. He feels a little like he was punched in the chest when the full weight of her gaze lands on him. It's like a spotlight. He can't see anything around it.
"You were too." Raven says. Garfield gets a sudden flashback of Raven reading with Teether, Melvin and Timmy.
"You are really good with kids," Garfield says. He's talking low because he feels like a louder voice would shatter this delicate moment. Raven shrugs.
"All the Titans are," Raven says and Garfield feels himself shake his head without even thinking about it.
"But you're...you're-" Garfield tries to find the words to describe how Raven was answering every single one of the subtle cues Jordan was giving her. Even the slightest twitch of her lip. It's like she had answers lined up before Jordan even knew what she wanted. Raven was like that with a lot of people. The word empathetic was jumping around his head but it felt too light on his tongue to truly capture what Raven was to the people around her. She was a salve. Healing. Their missing pieces.
Raven looked at Garfield expectantly.
"Hey baby," a voice came from beside them. Changeling felt his arm lift and a figure settle under his shoulder. He saw the blonde hair twinkling in his peripheral vision. He felt sticky lips leave their residue on the corner of his lips. Raven looked expectant for only a few seconds more before she greeted Terra.
"Nice to see you Terra. I'm sure you guys have a lot of catching up to do," Raven said before moving away from the couple to help Cyborg clean.
….