Sora: I'm so glad! And haha, I have no idea what their ship name would be without their code names. I agree Gaven is the best out of that list, though I am very fond of Rar, too! I vote on Kick for RobStar's nickname, though as you'll soon find out, Kory's nickname will end up being Star lol. You're not as bad as me, honestly! The list you came up with wasn't all that bad! Thank you so much for your support and for making me smile! I really appreciate it! I send you my best wishes too during these tough times! :)
LilyTimbers: I thought it was a fitting role for her, haha! Indeed, there is a reason for it, actually, and Diana knows perfectly what it is but it won't be revealed until much later. I'm trying my best to establish how they're essentially strangers but know each other by basics and by the "bridge" characters (Lilith and Donna who will be big ones as this chapter will somewhat reveal). I want to make sure to develop all of their backgrounds equally, though some others will have a little more in certain chapters, but I'm certainly trying hard with Vic and Kory! I have big plans for their arcs! Thanks for the support!
Sanzojoe: Haha, the nasa shirt was actually inspired from one of Picolo's group drawings! I absolutely love his art, and he's such a big teen titans fan! So big he ended up actually illustrating Raven's book. Check him out if you haven't! Also, you got me there! This is certainly very breakfast-clubey, mostly because I've read so many high school AU with these five with similar tones. However, it will be expanded on a lot, so it's certainly not a recreation of the Breakfast Club. Thanks for your continued support! Really appreciate it!
Golem XIV: So glad you felt that way about my story! It's still very much in its exposition stage, and it will be A LOT slower than my other stories, but I am trying to focus a lot on their dynamics or their character arcs. That's something I've missed in many of my stories, so I'm experimenting with this. Thanks for your fellow author support!
. . .
"You're new, aren't you?"
Kory looked up from her journal to see a girl smiling at her standing in front of her desk. Her hair was dark and wavy, and her eyes were as clear as the sky. Her white-toothed smile was so warm it made Kory smile herself. She nodded.
"Donna Troy. Nice to meet you." She offered her hand.
Kory took it and gently shook it. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well. My name is Kory Anders."
"Kory. That's a cool name," she told her as she sat down on the desk next to hers. "So, Kory, what brings you to Titan Academy?"
"Well, Alissa, my parents' most trusted guard is the one who drives me and my sister here in our vehicle," she explained.
Donna seemed puzzled until she realized the girl had taken the question literally. She chuckled gently and shook her head. Kory furrowed her eyebrows.
"I meant as in, why are you here, or what's your story?"
"Oh," she simply muttered, her cheeks reddening a bit. "I apologize. I am not accustomed to your language. I am not from here."
"I can see that. Where are you from?"
"The country of Tamaran, a land far away from here."
"Tamaran," Donna repeated it like she was contemplating the name. She looked at Kory with a somewhat befuddled expression. Then, her eyes seem to grow wider. "Wait, I know you. Are you the princess of Tamaran?"
Kory laughed lightly and nodded after her realization. "It seems your culture takes the title of a princess very seriously."
Donna's smile widened. "I just didn't realize I was in the presence of royalty. We don't have all that in the United States. It's more of a democratic society… at least most of the time."
"I understand." Kory closed her journal and tucked it into her bag, seeing as she would probably be spending the rest of her homeroom period talking to the girl.
"I'm guessing your sister is Kami?"
"How did you know?"
"I know Kami's a princess, mostly because I recognized her too when I met her. We used to be in an art class together. She's not very open about her background, surprisingly. Barely anybody knows she's a princess. I guess everybody assumes she's just another rich girl."
"Kami is like that. I do believe she is trying her best to be like the people here. She does not embrace the Tamarenean culture like I do. She believes it to be inferior." Her tone audibly softened, and her eyes trailed down like she was disappointed in her sister.
"That's a loss for her." Kory glanced at Donna whose warm expression hadn't changed. "I love to embrace my culture too."
Kory visibly brightened up, and she clapped her hands like she was excited. "Oh! Tell me more about your culture, friend!"
"Well, I'm from Themyscira, an island in the Caribbean, but I grew up here after my guardian adopted me and my step-sister."
"Oh! You have a sister as well?"
"She's a year younger than me. Her name's Cassie, and she's a pretty cool person." Donna nodded, her smile not faltering one bit. Kory wished she could express that kind of joy when she talked about her own sister. "Our guardian took us in when we were kids. We were orphans, so we didn't know our parents at all. Cassie, fortunately, found her parents though, and they took her in again. I was a little sad, to be honest, but I was also happy for her. The good thing was they let her stay here in San Francisco so she could be close to me and our guardian. They're very understanding of our situation, so we're still really tight."
Hearing Donna talk about her family made Kory miss her own. Though, admittedly, Donna's family sounded a lot nicer than her own. She had never been as close to her parents as she'd like to be. Though her culture might've been very passionate and bright, it certainly wasn't very familial. One of the positive things she'd noticed from this country was that parents tended to be closer to their children.
In Tamaran, parents were often more distant, and kids were expected to resolve their own conflicts as soon as they could talk. It encouraged independence and problem-solving, but it came at the cost of meaningful bonding with one's own blood relatives. Even then, most of the time, blood relatives were on good terms, and they respected each other. Unfortunately, that hadn't been the case for Kory. Her sister seemed to despise her since the moment she had stepped into the world. For as long as she could remember, Kami belittled her, pushed her around, and constantly made her life worse than it should've been. Her parents hadn't done much about the situation, opting to let the sisters resolve their own issues. But even as the years passed, Kami continued to hate Kory.
Kory, on the other hand, couldn't bring herself to feel such passionate hatred for her sister. As bad as she treated her, Kami was her sister, and she wasn't ever going to hate her. Thus, she often tried to fulfill her wishes, so she could avoid conflicts with her. It worked most of the time, but it did take a lot out of Kory. So when her sister had moved to the United States two years prior, Kory was ashamed to admit it was the happiest she'd been in a long time. That was until her parents sent her away, and life suddenly got a lot harder for her.
"I'm guessing you and Kami aren't so close?"
Kory then realized Donna had stopped talking a while ago, and she had zoned out.
She frowned and played with her fingers. "Sadly. My sister and I are not on the best terms, and my parents are not very close to us either."
Donna nodded in understanding. "It's alright, Kory. Sometimes our most precious family doesn't end up including our blood relatives, and that's okay. I'm sure you'll find other special people who you'll end up seeing as your family."
Kory smiled. "Those are some wise words, friend."
The bell ringing seemed to mark the end of their conversation, and both began to gather their things for the next period.
"Hey, Donna! Ready for next class?" a girl with ginger hair and pretty, forest-green eyes approached them. The girl spotted Kory and smiled. "Who's this?"
"This is Kory," Donna introduced her. "Kory, meet Lilith. One of my closest girlfriends."
"Nice to meet you, Lilith!" Kory took her into a hug as opposed to shaking her hand, unable to contain her excitement at meeting yet another friendly person.
"You too," Lilith chuckled and hugged her back.
"Well, we have to head to class, Kory. I'll see you another time?"
"Of course!"
Donna smiled one last time before turning around and walking out with Lilith by her side. Kory continued smiling as she packed up the remainder of her stuff. Her second day seemed to be turning out better than the first.
. . .
"Hey, Kor!" Karen greeted her when she spotted her in the mess hall. Kory had just finished loading up her plate with plenty of fries, chicken nuggets, mustard, ketchup, and even more french fries. Truly, Kory had never tasted such a delicious combo in her homeland.
"Greetings Bee! How are you on this fine day?" she smiled at the dark beauty.
"Doing great. Let's go sit at my table!" Karen got hold of her arm and dragged her toward her friends.
On her way there, Kory spotted Dick sitting at one of the tables in the middle with her new friends Donna and Lilith, the redhead who had been with the vice principal when they had been caught, and a few other people she didn't recognize. She made eye contact with Donna who smiled at her and waved. Kory did the same, also noticing how Dick turned to look at her for a moment before quickly turning back. She felt a little sad he hadn't waved at her, but it quickly went away after she reached Karen's table.
"Kory!" The twins she had met on her first day looked thrilled to see her and quickly pulled her to sit in between them. Garth, the handsome dark-haired surfer guy greeted her with a gentle smile. Mal, Karen's boyfriend, gave Karen a kiss on the cheek before greeting Kory like the others.
"So Kory has officially been initiated into our gang!" Karen announced with excitement. "You've basically met everyone. There's just one more person." She looked around the cafeteria. "He wasn't here yesterday but… There he is!"
Karen pointed at an approaching figure who looked somewhat surprised to see her.
"Kory?" Vic asked as he took a seat by Garth.
"Friend Vic!" Kory clapped her hands with excitement. "How great it is to see you!"
"You too." Vic sent her a genuine smile.
"You two know each other already?" Garth asked as he looked in between them.
"Yeah. We're in detention together."
"¡Detención! ¿Por qué?" The twins exclaimed simultaneously. They had a habit of speaking in Spanish and considering the group had been tight for a few years, they had gotten a handle on some of the more basic expressions. Kory had also studied Spanish back in Tamaran so she understood them perfectly.
"Jokesters of the grade dragged us into one of their pranks and got us into trouble." Vic shrugged as he cracked open his soda and took a sip.
"Only you two?" Mal added.
"Nah." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Dick and Raven were in it. Wally would've been caught since he was responsible too, but he got away."
"Wally has a tendency to run when he gets into trouble, that dufus." Karen rolled her eyes.
"Did Diana not let you off the hook? She should've known you weren't responsible," Garth pointed out.
Vic shrugged. "Ares was the victim of the prank, so she said he wouldn't let her go easy on us."
"That damn God of War strikes again." Mal shook his head in disapproval.
"I am afraid I am not understanding? There is a god in this school?" Kory posed innocently.
The group chuckled for a moment before Vic started explaining, "Vice Principal Morgan is a tough cookie. He has quite a temper, and nobody messes with that man! So when we learned about the gods in a Greek Mythology tour Principal Diana sponsored, we decided Ares was a fitting nickname for him."
"He's the God of War," Mal added.
"Pretty sure he knows, but he doesn't say anything. I think he likes it, to be honest," Karen said before popping a fry in her mouth.
"Oh. I understand now!"
"Anyway. Where were you yesterday? Lip-locking in the locker room with your boo?" Karen directed the question toward Vic in a teasing tone.
"Jinx broke up with me," Vic announced oh-so-casually, making his friends' jaws (all expect for Kory's) drop.
"Woah, seriously? Why?" Garth was the first to ask.
"I wasn't paying her enough attention." Vic shrugged.
"That's rough. I'm sorry."
"You doing okay?" Mal's voice had a hint of concern. His friends had certainly noticed there was something going on ever since he had had his accident.
"Fine. We weren't getting along that well, anyway."
"May I ask who this Jinx is?"
"I keep forgetting Kory is new. She fits in so naturally." Garth chuckled.
"Jennifer Hex." Kory looked toward the table in the back Karen was signaling toward as she talked. On it sat three people, one was a very short guy with a bald head and some thick-framed glasses, the other guy was about five heads taller than him and was well-built with rather long ginger hair, and the last one was a girl with bright pink hair pulled up into two high pigtails. "Next to Mik or Gizmo as he goes by and Baran or Mammoth as he goes by. Pretty sure they're packaged goods. I barely ever see them apart besides when Jinx hangs around with Vic."
"They're kind of the bad crowd here," Garth commented. "You shouldn't really hang around them. Rumor has it Jinx is cursed."
"What Garth means to say is don't listen to the rumors. They're really not that bad when you meet them," Vic interrupted him, sending him a dirty look. "Except for Gizmo. The dwarf is a jerk with a temper."
"¡Sí, es un grosero!" The twins quickly nodded in agreement.
"Anyhow. Let's just forget about those losers. Kory, we have to talk to you about my annual Winter Bash." Karen offered a wide smile.
Kory looked excited despite the fact she had no idea what a Winter Bash even was. "Oh, glorious! What is it?"
From across the lunchroom, two eyes were fixated on Kory as she spoke.
"See something you like?" Donna's voice snapped him out of it.
"Huh?" Dick looked confused as he looked at the girl sitting by him. Her words seemed to have caught Lillith's and Roy's attention as well.
"Aw, does Dick have a crush on the newbie?" Lilith teased.
Dick cleared his throat. "Of course not."
"Oh, he's totally into her," Roy inputted with a smirk.
"I'm not into her," Dick muttered.
"We're into who now?" Jade who was sitting across the table asked loudly, gaining the attention of the others surrounding her. Everyone now seemed to be staring at Dick.
"Nothing," he simply stated, glad his shades were mostly hiding any emotion on his expression.
Jade seemed unsatisfied with the answer but quickly lost interest, going back to conversing with her other friends. Dick wasn't particularly close with her, but Roy really seemed to like her, so when she had invited them to her table, he had insisted he joined. Donna and Lilith followed Dick shortly after to keep him company with who they deemed 'The Wolves' of their grade, mostly cheerleaders and jocks who seemed to enjoy causing drama and rumors.
"Something wrong, Dick?" Donna asked, quietly enough that only he could hear. It was impossible for him to hide his emotions from Donna Troy. She could read him like an open book no matter how hard he tried to appear normal.
"Issues at home."
"Jason?" she asked.
"Jason," he affirmed. "Spent all of dinner arguing with him as usual. Bruce wasn't even there to help."
She nodded in understanding. "That sucks." Once she noticed his bumped out expression again, she offered a smile. "Want to hang out at my place today after school?"
"I have detention."
"What? How?" She looked thoroughly confused.
"Gar." It only took one name for her to understand.
"Bummer." She sighed. "Diana couldn't let you out of it?"
He shook his head.
"I'll see if I can talk to her then."
"Don't bother. It's only for two weeks. I'll survive."
Donna examined him for a moment before nodding. "Alright. You know you can always come to my place if you don't want to eat at yours, too. Door's always open for you."
Dick smiled. "I know."
On the other side of the cafeteria, Gar was sitting with his friends playing with the food on his plate with his fork.
"Are you still mad at me, Gar?" Wally asked from his seat across from him.
Joey signed something with his hands, and Kole proceeded to slap Wally in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" He rubbed the spot gently.
"Joey asked what you did this time."
"Nothing! It was an accident!" Wally defended himself.
Kole frowned at him but before she could say anything else, Gar intervened. "It's fine, Wally. Not mad at you. Steve has just been an asshole recently."
Joey signed, and Kole translated. "Sorry, Gar. If you need anyone to listen, you know we're always here."
Gar grinned. "You know I'll be good in a bit. I'm always good. Nothing keeps the great Gar Logan down!" He sent him a thumbs-up, and Joey smiled.
"So how bad is detention?" Wally asked.
"Not too bad. Diana had some mercy with us. Got two weeks and we can do anything but walk out of the room."
"Doesn't sound bad at all," Kole told him.
"It's really not. I have time to hopefully do something to save my grades." Gar glanced at Toni who was sitting silently by Gnarkk chewing on her salad. "Hey, Toni, think you can help me with my essay?"
Toni nodded and offered a small smile.
"So are we going to Bee's party this Saturday?" Wally changed the subject.
Kole glanced at her boyfriend. "Joey thinks we should. I say yes too. Bee's parties are always so much fun!"
"Fun!" John Gnarkk, Kole's rather quiet, older step-brother, followed her suit.
"Toni?" Wally asked for her input.
She glanced around the table and shrugged. "Why not?"
"Sweet!" Wally turned to Gar and sent him an expecting glance.
Gar's smile widened. "Of course we are. We would never miss one of Bee's parties. Besides, all the drama unfolds there. Can't wait to see what it is this time."
. . .
"How are you doing today, Dick?" Kory questioned happily as they sat in the detention room.
"I'm doing great, Kory. How are you?" He smiled, looking up from the screen of his laptop.
"Wonderful!" she replied, a reddish tint taking over her cheeks as they locked eyes. She looked away, a little sheepishly.
"I'm doing pretty awesome too. Thanks for asking!" Gar added from the other side of the room. He was resting his legs on the desk by him with his arms supporting his head comfortably. As usual, he was sporting his crooked and teasing smile. He glanced at Raven who was in the back writing something. "How are you doing, Rae?" He mocked.
Raven didn't even look up to acknowledge him and instead continued working on her Calculus problems.
"Gee, tough crowd," Gar huffed yet continued to smile.
"You're the annoying one, green bean," Vic pointed out, a few desks away, not taking his eyes off his phone.
Gar rolled his eyes. "You're just jealous 'cause nobody asked you how you're doing!"
"Am not! Nobody even asked you!"
"Well, well, I see we're conversing," Diana commented as she walked into the room with a few sheets in hand. Gar almost fell off his seat as he put his legs back on the ground to sit properly. Vic snorted at the sight but kept his mouth shut. "I know I told you all you could do whatever you wanted, but Vice Principal Morgan seems to insist on setting a punishment."
She set the papers on the front desk. "And seeing as we seem to be getting along wonderfully. I printed out some personality tests, so you can get to know each other. I'm also going to be setting little tasks throughout the week involving group exercises. At the end of our detention period, I'd like everyone to give me a little summary of someone in this room. They'll be random, so you don't know who you're going to get."
"Is this a joke?" Dick asked as he picked up a paper and looked through the questions.
"No, Mr. Grayson. I assure you this punishment is not a joke."
"But… How exactly is this a punishment?" Gar looked puzzled, following Dick's suit and picking up a paper to read through the questions as well.
Diana smiled, and there was a hint of mischief enlaced in it. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough, Mr. Logan. Good luck." She turned around and walked out, leaving everyone somewhat confused with their assignment.
"Uh... So… What do we do?" Vic asked, looking through the test.
"I suppose we should read through the questions," Kory suggested as she pushed a few desks toward the wall and sat down on the floor in the middle of the room. Vic and Gar sat down by each other while Dick took a seat next to Kory. They looked toward the back where Raven was sitting staring at them with a blank expression.
"Raven?" Dick asked, patting the spot next to him.
She sighed and silently stood up, walking over to sit in between Vic and Dick.
Kory cleared her throat and read out the first question. "Number one: what is your name?"
Gar snorted. "That's it?" He waved a dismissive hand. "Garfield Mark Logan at your service."
"Victor Stone."
"Richard John Grayson."
"Raven Roth."
"Koriand'r."
"That's it?" Vic asked. "No last name?"
Kory shook her head. "In my language, last names are a part of our name."
"What does your name mean in English?" Gar curiously asked.
Kory thought for a moment before answering, "In your language, it translates to Star-Fire."
"Starfire, huh?" Vic pronounced. "Can I call you Star then?"
Kory appeared ecstatic at the nickname, seeing as she'd read nicknames often fortified a blooming close friendship in this country. "You may call me Star!"
"Awesome!" Vic grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.
"I want a nickname!" Gar pouted like a little kid who'd been left out.
"You already have a nickname, Gar," Dick muttered, rolling his eyes.
"But I want a cooler nickname!"
"I already call you green bean, green bean." Vic smirked.
Gar's expression dropped. "But that's an awful nickname!"
"Uh-uh." Vic tsked in disapproval. "You wanted a nickname so don't complain. Anyway, read on, Star."
"Number two: name your favorite-"
"This is a waste of time," Raven interrupted before Kory could finish reading. She let out a deep breath and stood up to walk back to her seat. "I have work to do."
"Honestly, I don't think these kinds of questions are going to do any help," Dick admitted as he looked through the sheet. "How is our favorite barn animal going to help us learn anything about each other?"
"But Principal Diana said we have to do it," Kory said, looking at Dick with innocent eyes. He seemed to step back from his previous comment and frown.
"She didn't say we have to finish this test. She just said we have to get to know each other," Vic added as he crumpled up his sheet. "We don't need no test for that! How about we just talk about ourselves?"
Silence. Vic noticed how everyone suddenly appeared to be avoiding making eye contact like they weren't interested in sharing anything about themselves at all. He sighed. "Fine. I'll go first."
"Let's see. I love football. My dream was to be a football champion in the NFL until I got in a car crash last month that destroyed my right leg."
"Wait. Is that why you were out for so long?" Dick asked, his gaze softening at his confession.
Vic nodded.
"Uh, sorry if it's rude to ask, but how are you not in a wheelchair right now?" Gar pointed out while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
Vic stood up and rolled up the bottom of his jeans, showing off the shiny prosthetic beneath.
Gar's eyes widened, and Vic awaited the usual pity speech people gave him when they found out he was disabled. "Woah, dude! That's so cool!" he announced.
Vic, along with everyone else, appeared confused. "Cool? What do you mean? I'm missing my leg."
"Well, duh, but it makes you look like a badass half-robot superhero! I'd be scared if you came at me ready to kick my ass! You're like a…" he thought for a moment before his eyes widened. "A cyborg!"
"Cyborg?"
"Yeah! I'll call you Cyborg from now on!" Gar announced, looking rather proud that he came up with the nickname.
"You're a weird little man, aren't you?" Vic muttered but otherwise smiled. He noticed Kory seemed rather happy, and Dick had a hint of a smile forming. He couldn't catch Raven's expression as she had her hood up again, but he swore he saw her glance momentarily at him.
"Well, I guess I should go next!" Gar grinned. "I am a proud vegan! I absolutely love video-games and… I'm a foster kid, but I was adopted by my family about five years ago."
"I didn't know that. You don't look like a foster kid." Vic frowned, looking over Gar oddly. He had assumed all foster kids had some sort of behavioral problem or appeared sad like the pictures he would usually see, but Gar seemed like the complete opposite. Besides the fact he was a troublemaker, he seemed hyperactive and optimistic every moment of the day. But then again, Vic also didn't fit the typical description of a disabled person, so he decided then he probably shouldn't base his descriptions off of stereotypes.
"Yeah. I get that a lot. My parents died in an excursion to Africa when I was really young, but eventually, I landed in the foster care system over here and bounced around until Rita and Steve adopted me."
It was quiet for a second, like nobody knew what else to contribute.
"I'm a foster kid too," Dick added randomly, and Gar noticed he'd been staring at him with a somewhat surprised expression.
Gar's eyes widened and he smiled. "That's so cool! I don't meet a lot of foster kids around here. What happened to your parents?"
Vic felt a hint of worry Dick wouldn't react well to the question until he realized he seemed rather chill about it, not showing a hint of emotion.
"Well, I know you guys know people call me Bird Boy because I used to be a trapeze artist. What you didn't know is that my parents were trapeze artists too. We were a family act in a circus. Called us the Flying Graysons. They died in a stunt gone wrong."
"Flying Graysons?" Vic nodded. "I've heard of them I think. It was a really bad accident, no?"
"Yeah. Saw it with my own eyes. I got taken in by Bruce shortly after though. We got off to a bad start, but we're good now." Dick elaborated. Sort of good would've been a better descriptor, but they didn't need to know that.
"I am sorry, Dick. That sounds terrible." Kory added, looking like she was about to cry.
Dick seemed a little embarrassed. "It's alright, Star. It happened a really long time ago. But why don't you tell us about yourself?"
"Oh, there is not much to tell." Kory glanced at her lap. "I am from Tamaran. My parents sent me here to study with my sister."
"Your sister? Does she go here?" Gar inquired with curiosity.
Kory nodded. "Her name is Kami. She is a year above me."
"Woah, Kami Anders?" Vic seemed shocked. He then proceeded to face-palm as he hadn't caught the resemblance of their last names. "Are you saying she's also a princess? How did we not know this? She's so popular. Word would've gotten around."
Kory shrugged sadly. "She is not as embracing of our culture as I am. She might have wanted to keep it a secret."
"Kami, huh. You don't seem like her at all," Dick noted.
She frowned, holding her palms together and looking down like she was ashamed. "Is that a bad thing?"
"Of course not!" Gar exclaimed before Dick could put in a word. "No offense, Star, but Kami is kind of a bi-asshole. She loves conflict."
Kory started to laugh and nod along. "Kami is very problematic, including with me."
"I personally think you're much better than your sister." Dick smiled at her.
"Thank you, Dick." She smiled back, maintaining eye contact for a few seconds.
"Ooookay." Gar cleared his throat and spoke, seeing as the two probably soon-to-be love birds were busy gawking at each other. He looked toward Raven who appeared to have been staring at them for a while, probably listening in on the conversation. When they made eye contact, she quickly looked away.
Gar grinned and jumped to his feet. He sauntered over to Raven and plopped down on the desk next to hers. "What about you, Rae? Tell us something about yourself!" Kory and Dick seemingly stopped staring at each other and turned to look at them along with Vic.
"Yeah, Raven! We want to know." Vic offered a friendly smile.
"There is nothing to tell." Raven shrugged, avoiding everyone's stare and instead continuing to work on her Calculus homework.
"Aw, come on, Rae! There has to be something! You can't tell us you got no story and expect us to believe it!"
Raven sighed, closing her eyes, his voice getting on her nerves. She gently put her pencil on the desk and pursed her lips. "Let's see. I hate nicknames." At her first fact, Gar looked a little embarrassed but otherwise successful. "I am an only child, and I live with my mother in an apartment." She then picked up her pencil again and continued her work like that was all she was going to share.
But that wasn't enough for Gar, so he continued to push. "What about your dad?"
Raven gritted her teeth. If they had been in a cartoon, her ears would've probably been smoking by then. "I've never met him."
"Oh. So… You could say you're kind of like a half foster kid?" Vic face-palmed at his conclusion, Dick rolled his eyes, and Kory looked in between them cluelessly.
Raven finally turned to look at Gar, her expression blank. "No. Not at all. You're a foster kid. You should know the definition of a foster kid."
"Hey, you were listening to our stories!" Gar's grin widened. "You're interested to find out more about me-us!"
"On the contrary, I was trying to tune you out, but your voice is rather loud and irritating."
Gar hopped off the desk, still looking quite proud that he'd gotten a word out of her and ignoring the rest of her sentence. He glanced at his watch. "Hm, looks like it's almost time to-"
Etta Candy walked in just before he could finish and propped the door open. "You kids are free to go now." She smiled at them like the sweet lady she was.
"Well, it was a productive evening, but I gotta run!" Vic was the first to stand up and wave at them. "See y'all around."
Kory and Dick stood up and walked out together, whispering something to each other and laughing along.
Raven started to gather her things.
"Uh… Do you need a ride or something?" Gar offered, unsure of what else to say.
Raven glanced at him for a moment before standing up to face him. She didn't say anything, so for a moment, he thought it was a silent agreement. He was about to smile and lead her to the parking lot until she muttered, "You're in my way."
His smile faltered, and he chuckled while moving to the side to let her pass. She walked out without even saying goodbye. He figuratively kicked himself while whispering, "Damn it, Gar, you always mess this up…"
"Come on, hon. I'll have to lock you up in here if you don't get out." Etta smiled like a madwoman and chuckled at her own joke.
Gar grabbed his stuff and headed out, though not before smiling at Etta and complimenting her outfit for the day. He walked out of the building, suddenly realizing he was about to return to the warzone. He sighed, glancing at his watch and thinking he could afford a little time for himself before dinner.
He frowned. "Get it together, Gar…" he muttered before deciding it wasn't worth risking it. Maybe tomorrow would be a different day.
A/N: I know this story doesn't have as strong of cliffhangers as my others, but right now, the plot hasn't yet picked up, and I'm trying to be very thorough with my introduction of all of the main characters. Obviously, our five are the primary ones, and generally the ones that I will explore POVs on, but there are other important characters I will touch on (Diana, Donna, Lilith, and the characters on each table being some of them). If you've read my other stories, you know I often write in Raven and BB's POV and Kory, Dick and Vic are minor yet important characters. Well, now, it's in the POV of Raven, BB, Dick, Kory, and Vic, yet the other characters still play important roles and there will be lots of other dynamics explored apart from the main five! I hope you guys enjoy that! As I've mentioned before, this is not my typical BBRae-focused AU, though their relationship is certainly a big aspect I'm exploring. As usual, thanks for reading! I love you all, and please stay safe. I know 2020 is proving to be a very hard year for a lot of people, but I'm certain we can make it through!