Eris: Currently, there are no plans to introduce powers in this particular story. I wanted to see what I could do with a "real-world" approach to the setting and these characters, as a fun, interesting challenge. However, I absolutely love each and every one of the Teen Titans characters and I have plans to write another story after this one with full on superheroes. One step at a time time though. :)
nyanya711477: I understand what you mean. To me, Victor and Sarah made sense, as the pairing I see most frequently in the actual comics. However, I'm not opposed to the idea of Cy and Bee in another story. :)
LW: Thank you your encouragement. I enjoy reading your feedback a lot. I wanted to get as close to the animated show as I could, while still giving them my own unique touches in certain situations. I hope to continue living up to my own expectations, as well as the readers. :D
A/N: Hey folks! I wanted to take a moment before jumping into this next chapter to respond to a couple of questions I've seen, as well as general thank yous for all your great feedback. It has been so encouraging to see people enjoy my contribution to this fandom and it is very motivating in my quest to become a better writer. As always, I am looking for beta readers and people who can help me with my general grammar and organization. If you are interested, shoot me a message and we can see what we can come up with. Now, let's jump right back in!
Disclaimer: Teen Titans and its associated characters are property of DC Comics. I do not own any of these characters.
The sound of raindrops tapping against her window greeted Raven as she awoke. It was probably early; her internal clock wouldn't let her sleep in past 8 A.M., even on weekends. Raven didn't care, though. She enjoyed the relative silence that came with mornings; especially on Sundays, when Jump City rested from the previous night's chaos. Yes, the quiet was familiar to her.
What wasn't as familiar to Raven was how relaxed her body felt. Raven rolled her neck and shoulders, feeling like she finished an hour-long massage. The last bits of sleep clung to her body, making her mind groggy. Quick shower should take care of that.
Raven grabbed her clothes, focusing on comfort for today, and walked into the bathroom. The sound of water spray filled the small room as she turned the shower on, letting it warm up.
At least I had enough common sense to take my make-up off last night, Raven thought as she looked herself over in the mirror. Her mind had been a blur after the Pier, thanks to her mind trying to process all emotions at once.
Satisfied with the temperature of the water and out of what she slept in, Raven stepped in, her body becoming instantly more alert. She reached for her lavender bodywash, adding a dollop to her hands, and started massaging it onto her skin. The calm, circular motions rubbed away any remaining sleepiness. As it washed away, a wave of memories from last night took its place. One memory in particular taking center stage.
I gave Garfield my phone number!
It was a spur-of-the-moment action. Raven didn't even feel like she was in control of her body at the time. There was no second-guessing allowed, which went against every fiber of her being. Stupid cotton candy's fault.
However, as Raven reached for the shampoo, she knew that the sugary snack wasn't to blame. At least, not fully. Raven was smart enough to know she wouldn't have done it unless a part of her agreed it was okay to do so. And with Garfield's handsome face and his ridiculous teddy bear encouraging her, she found herself listening to that part.
If only the moment could have lasted longer. Suddenly, the water felt much chillier, an uncomfortable silence hanging in the air. Why did he get so worked up over one text? Raven had only seen small bits of Gar's pain since they met that first day of class. Tiny cracks in his façade. Last night, they were busted wide open. Why though?
Raven chuckled bitterly to herself as no answers came. She wasn't a fan of not having answers. Great. Really getting the most out of these psych classes. Unfortunately, that wasn't the last of her concerns.
Someone was watching us last night. At first, Raven hoped it was Kory, having seen her two friends and wanting to make sure they were okay. Except Kory never made Raven's spine crawl with extreme discomfort, at least in Raven's short time as the redhead's roommate. Whatever, or whoever, it had been, they didn't have good intentions.
The walls seemed to close in on her, a cage with cold, watery restraints on Raven's skin. She looked over her shoulder, even opening the curtain slightly to get a peek of the rest of the room. Okay, getting paranoid now. Not good. Raven took a deep breath, attempting to calm her nerves.
Clean but no longer relaxed, Raven turned the shower handle off. She dried and clothed herself automatically, trying to stop the raging storm inside her. Raven didn't even bother remembering if she finished her morning routine, only assuming she did it. Right now, all she wanted was to get out of that bathroom and work. Anything to keep her distracted.
Raven grabbed her backpack and threw it onto the couch in the living room. The light drizzle continued outside. However, small hints of blue were breaking through the clouds on the horizon. I need my morning cup. Heading into the kitchen and looking through her designated cupboard, Raven found the small, green box she needed.
The aroma of green tea filled the kitchen as the kettle boiled. Once it finished, Raven poured herself a cup, adding a drop of honey and stirring three times. This was Raven's preferred method for this brand, her first sip confirming it had reached the perfect sweetness level. The anxiety coursing through her body lessened and her mind quieted down a bit.
Okay, time to get some work done. Raven brought her tea over and plopped down onto one of the couch cushions. Even though it had only been the first week of the semester, Raven still had some work that needed to get done. The main items on her agenda were the outlines for her study sessions.
It was tedious work. Easy, but tedious. For the next hour and a half, Raven reviewed Professor Drake's syllabus, filling in overall ideas with her own points and notes, matching what needed to be covered that semester.
She only got halfway down the syllabus before her brain gave up on the idea of working any further on them. Putting the notes aside, Raven glanced out the balcony doors. At some point during her slow descent into bored insanity, the rain had stopped, a blue sky on full display.
Raven's conscience shouted at her, urging her to do more work. However, if she read one more sentence involving the words "cognitive" or "development", she was going to claw her own eyes out. Yep, need something else.
Looking inside her backpack, Raven grabbed a worn, red notebook and opened it. The first page had a date marked to three years ago. The day was burned into her brain, considering it was the first day of her research project journey. At one point, she even considered it the happiest day of her life.
Raven knew she was lucky, both in terms of her research and her plans to graduate in four years. Normally, transferring to another school was a nightmare in terms of college credits. If JCU didn't recognize any classes from University of Gotham or just didn't accept her credits, all the time and effort she had spent would have equated to nothing.
Right now, though, her plans, her projects, and her simple notebook were all reminders. Mementos of a time she wanted to forget.
A text notification from her cellphone drew Raven's attention. Weird. Who's texting me? Grabbing the small device from the coffee table, she noticed the number had no contact associated with it. Raven was about to dismiss it as a wrong number, until she read the message.
You know, I wonder if the color does affect the flavor. What do you think?
There was also a photo attached. A small, white snack cart, with Jump City Zoo written in cursive on the front. Several plastic bags hung on the side of the small roof shading it, each one bearing the zoo's logo on the bag and filled with cotton candy.
There was a range of colors, including blue, pink, green, and purple. In classic selfie fashion, Garfield stood to the side, a big, dumb grin present on his charming face.
The edges of Raven's lips began to curl, the faintest of smiles threatening to break through. She ignored the fact that her smiles had been more frequent lately. She also ignored the slight heat that crept up her face.
She added Garfield into her contacts list and tried to think of a response. Two minutes later, she hit send on what she hoped was a good text. It was a simple response, if a bit dry. One that acknowledged his question and implied that she was open to the idea of hanging out in the future.
As Raven leaned back on the couch, the funk she had slipped into began to float away. One simple thought was left behind in its place.
Maybe this year won't be so bad after all.
The rain seemed to mock Garfield, who woke up feeling more dejected than usual.
The idea of being awake at 8 A.M. on a weekend was already enough to put him in a sour mood. However, Rita and Steve's change of plans from just talking to Steve to a full-blown family dinner was a sucker punch he was not expecting. Add in Gar's shock and hurt over not being told about said change, and him agreeing to the dinner because he was a glutton for punishment, and the perfect recipe for a miserable morning was created.
Guess it could be worse though. The misery was offset slightly by the fact that Gar somehow managed to postpone the dinner until next month. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was time, nonetheless. It gave him a chance to think about any of Steve's complaints regarding his life, and in turn, make up answers that would get him off his back.
It also helped that up until Rita's text, Gar had been having one of the best nights of his young life.
Whenever people talk about their dreams, they can never remember them fully the second they wake up. No matter how hard they try, the dream is either missing small parts, or it's gone entirely. Right now, Gar had to agree with that, seeing as he couldn't recall a single one that appeared in his subconscious last night in its entirety.
He did remember one detail about all of them: the color violet.
Gar could only think of one explanation: Raven was an enchantress. A sorceress who could casts spells in order to charm people completely. How else could her image permeate his mind so thoroughly, every minute next to her playing over and over?
He had no intentions of fighting off her magic, though. Next to her, Gar felt at peace, the real world fading away to nothing but background noise. The opposite of his crush, which seemed hellbent in completely taking him over.
Gar looked over towards his phone on the nightstand. Inside was Raven's number, a fact he was still trying to process. What now though?
His face fell slightly, unsure of the answer to his own question. He needed to text Raven, at the very least so she could have his own number.
What's a good first text, though? he thought. Name's too boring. Maybe a joke? No, too overdone. Besides, I'm way funnier in person.
He grabbed the small device, scrolling down the contact list until he reached her name, opening it up in the Messages app. There, the small blue line taunted him, making fun of the fact he had nothing. It felt like he stared at the text box for hours, even though it was only a couple of minutes. He sighed, looking over at the small numbers in the corner indicating what time it was. Which was also the moment Gar remembered why he woke up so early in the first place.
Shit! I'm gonna be late!
"Here's the main examination room," Dr. Priscilla Rich said, opening a single, steel door as she gave Garfield a tour of the zoo's primate house. While these back hallways were generally closed off to the public, Gar now had special permission to be there. After all, today was his first day as a part-time employee of Jump City Zoo.
The limited positions were introduced by this year's biology department as alternate ways to complete the lab portion of the Animal Field class. Thanks to a good word from his professor and an essay that required too much writing for his liking, Gar had been able to score the position without much trouble. It wasn't luxurious, but it was a step in the right direction for Gar's career goals.
Plus, it came with a small paycheck, which was nice. Most of it was going towards rent, but hey, money is money.
"You'll be spending most of your time here, observing and helping our team," continued Dr. Rich. "Behind that door are the recovery areas for any patients that need to be isolated for longer periods of time," she said, pointing towards another side door a few feet to their left.
Dr. Rich's words were professional, but they held an underlying tone of boredom. Gar figured that she didn't think the tour was the most productive use of her time. He did, however, appreciate she referred to the animals as "patients", giving them respect he wished more people would give to animals. Gar took a moment to fully survey the room.
Stark LEDs bathed the tile floor and blue walls in white light. The center piece of the room was a large stainless-steel operating table, next to which were EKG and anesthesia monitors. Judging by the size the table, Gar guessed it could accommodate a medium-sized gorilla with ease. Anything larger would require alternate methods for health check-ups. Two surgical lights were mounted above it, attached to mechanical arms that allowed them to be adjusted. Various other pieces of medical equipment occupied space around the room.
Overall, Gar hated how confined and cold it was. He was fully aware that everything here was necessary for the animals' health. It didn't change the fact that he would rather be out in nature, working where the animals, and by extension himself, were free.
Dr. Rich turned to face Gar. "I believe that wraps up the tour of the major facilities of the zoo. Do you have any questions, Mr. Logan?"
"No questions here, Dr. Rich; thank you," he said, flashing his award-winning smile, "and you can call me Gar if you like." Gar wasn't a big fan of being formal. He respected Dr. Rich's title and achievements but being referred to as "Mr. Logan" was uncomfortable for him. Especially considering his current location.
"Very well, Gar," she returned his smile with a small one of her own. "Forgive me if this is intrusive, but when was the last time you visited Jump City Zoo?"
A wave of bittersweet nostalgia washed over Gar as he answered Dr. Rich's question. "It was with my parents, so it's been a decade at least. It's crazy seeing how much stayed the same."
The morning tour was largely unnecessary in retrospect. For him, it was like riding a bike after years of not getting on one. The same paths led to the same exhibits, with only a couple of additions and expansions.
Each stop dug up a buried memory from the recesses of his mind. His parents' faces were crystal clear in each one. Garfield allowed himself to linger on each memory briefly, after which he locked them away again. Before he got swept away in a tidal wave of grief.
"I see. I'm sure they would be proud to see you following in their footsteps." This time, her words held genuine sympathy. Gar gave her a nod of acknowledgement, not entirely trusting his voice right now. "Well, seeing as there are no check-ups scheduled for today, I can let you go early. Before you do though, I have a favor to ask."
Gar switched back to his carefree, friendly disposition quickly, shoving aside the last few seconds that happened, and his curiosity was peaked. "Sure. What's up?"
"Our zoo is having a fundraising dinner two weeks from now. We're trying to convince some of Jump's wealthier residents to donate so we can take care of the facilities and the animals."
He nodded, not sure where this conversation was heading.
"Since both of your parents were researchers here, as well as some of the biggest contributors to the zoo financially, I was wondering if you would be interested in coming to the dinner as a guest? You're not only a legacy, but someone who's actively working with our staff. It would be great for the zoo's image. It's up to you though."
Gar thought about it for a moment. There was no doubt that the Logan surname had swung the chances of securing one of the limited staff positions in his favor. Of course, he put as much hard work into his essay as anyone else, if not more, but he wasn't going to deny the slight advantage he held.
Taking that into account, saying yes to Dr. Rich's request wouldn't be a bad idea. At least I get a choice for once. Besides, who was he to turn down free food?
"Absolutely! Two questions, though: What's the dress code and do I need to make a speech?" he asked.
"You'll have to wear something formal. And no, no need for a speech. We'll probably bring attention to you at some point in the night, but that's about it."
"Suit and a spotlight. Sounds like a good time to me," Gar wiggled his eyebrows, making Dr. Rich chuckle. "You can count me in."
"Great. Thank you, Mr. Logan." Dr. Rich said, walking towards the door, with Gar following close behind. As she opened the door and Garfield stepped out of the room, she spoke up again, "Oh, one more thing: You're allowed a plus one, if you wish to bring a friend."
"I'll keep that in mind." Gar gave her a grin, as both exited the exam room.
At some point inside the primate house, the rain stopped completely. More guests were walking around the zoo as Gar headed towards the exit. Families gathered around in front of the animal enclosures, fascinated by the majestic beasts a few feet from them. Wonder if Raven has a favorite animal? He chuckled to himself. Definitely a cat person.
The moment Dr. Rich mentioned a "plus one", Gar's heart leapt at the thought of bringing Raven. Which only caused the internal war between his brain and emotions to start up again.
On one hand, it was a great opportunity to hang out with Raven with no schoolwork in the way. On the other, Gar wasn't even sure if Raven liked formal events. Or zoos. He was pretty sure she wasn't a fan of large crowds. Not to mention, none of this would be helping his crush!
Ugh! What's wrong with me? Gar's facepalm let out an audible smack, turning the heads of one or two people walking by. He took a deep breath as his hand slid down his face, attempting to calm himself down. When he opened his eyes, the world did not give him answers, its indifference to his plight greeting him.
From the opposite side of the path, a white object caught Gar's eye. A snack cart. Maybe some food will help me think.
A small smile was brought to his lips as he walked over, recalling the similar moment he had with Raven the previous night.
Inspiration grounded Gar to a halt. It hit him like a charging rhino, fueled by absolute resolve. He remembered his promise to himself: to be Raven's friend, crush or no crush. Among all his internal arguing, Gar knew one thing for certain: last night had been special. And Raven had been instrumental in making that happen.
She was still way out of his league, and he knew Raven would never look at him as anything more than a friend. And he was perfectly content in being that for her. However, as he took out his phone to begin his plan, he dared to listen to that specific part of himself. The one that urged him to fall deeper below the waves of affection. And he did something reckless.
He fed it hope. Hope that one day, he could be more to Raven.
The picture was easy: he loved the camera and finding an angle so the bags could be seen took seconds. The message was a bit tough, until he remembered Raven's wariness about flavors.
You know, I wonder if the color does affect the flavor. What do you think?
Hitting the "Send" button was even tougher, phone trembling in his hand as he did so. The toughest step, though, was waiting for her reply.
If he were a dog, his hackles would have been raised, every nerve in his body running hot with anxiety. Maybe this was a bad idea.
Before he could fall deep into the void, a text notification rang from his phone. Gar steeled himself with a deep breath and read the message. He read it over again, making sure he didn't leave a word out.
Sounds like we'll have to test that idea out someday.
Joy surged through every molecule in Gar's body. The tug of war still raged within him, but this time, his emotions were pulling harder. With a new spring in his step, Gar left the zoo, his excitement quenching his appetite.
Maybe this year won't be so bad after all.
A/N: If you've enjoyed my story so far, feel free to follow/favorite and leave a review with your feedback and constructive criticism.