A/N: YAY! Back again for another chappie! Maaaaaan...I had half a mind to put this on hiatus but I decided not too because even with all the school work and crap, I realised I really enjoyed writing this and want to at the very least finish it up.

However...I'm sorry this chappie's a bit short...and a bit weak. I like it though...kind...and the characters are a bit OC but then they always kinda have been a little bit OC so I'm not too worried.

Once again, I'm sorry I posted this a little late but I hope you still all enjoy it!

Please read and review! Love you!

Chapter 10

Raven slipped out of her room fluidly and into Kori's to check up on her after what seemed to be hours and hours of time spent in her own room contemplating what to do about her current situation yet she couldn't find a solution and found that it might be better for her to do something productive before drowning herself in misery once more and going all OCD about it. She was also visiting because she had started feeling guilty about not visiting her best friend at her time of need; she had been selfish and self consumed by her own thoughts and she had hurt Gar in the process of doing so and after a while, she realised that she had also hurt Kori—even if Kori was not conscious of it—as it was her duty as her friend to take care of her and help her stand once more.

As soon as the chill of phasing had dissipated, Raven approached the sleeping Tamaranian with hushed steps, making sure that—though she was never really a noisy person, that could be accredited to both Gar and Vic—she did not make any noise that could possibly wake her up. It was strange to find Kori being so quiet—unnatural, really—as every time Raven was near her she erupted with joy and hyper-activeness combined with fierce beauty and an enchanting smile.

Yet now, as she could see with her own naked eyes, Kori was still fast asleep and there was some type of serenity to her that softened every strong feature that Kori had but at the same time she could sense the turmoil and the anguish that the Tamaranian felt, even in her sleep. She was still beautiful—and she would always look beautiful, Raven noted, half begrudgingly—but there were lines where there weren't any before and she looked haggard, it wasn't just because of the feelings that Raven was sensing because she definitely did look more tired. It worried her, like a lot of things, but at this exact moment this worried her the most.

Raven found herself a chair and sat down next to her, taking in her aura and the sight of her at the same time. Dick announcing their break and his leaving must have taken a toll on her, she thought to herself, since the majority of the time that Kori spent on Earth was as a Titan and that meant being around Dick 24/7 and it increased their infatuation for each other every single day and now…now that was destroyed in one swift stroke by the very man that Kori had always, always been in love with.

Her fingers found themselves entangled in the mass of red strands and she let them play with the individual burnished red locks, slipping slowly as they slipped in and out of the red silk. There was something peculiar about this year, she had realised, and she didn't know what it was but something was making things fall apart; it may have been internal problems or external pressure but there was just something in the air that was making every day seem like one of those trashy soaps that Garfield used to try to make her watch…everything was just so hyperbolic and unreal that if someone else was experiencing what they were experiencing she wouldn't have believed them no matter how convincing their argument was.

Suddenly she felt a twinge of consciousness prod at her empathic powers and she held her breath in, determined to keep Kori in her current state of peace but it was to no avail; she heard a low groan erupt from Kori's lips and she started shaking her head in distress. No, it was not working at all.

"Hush…Kor, it's me; Raven." Raven whispered, trying to calm her best friend down.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Kori turned to look at her; the corner of her brows and lips were wrinkled and her large chartreuse eyes dimmed as her gaze met Raven's, "Where is boyfriend Dick, friend Raven?" Her voice squeaked as if her throat was parched.

"He is…" Raven shook her head slowly, "He's away, Kor."

"Oh…" Kori's lips folded into an indulgent pout and there was the distinct feeling of sadness and disappointment coming from her, "I hope he will be back soon…did he not say when he was coming back? Oh, I do miss his presence."

Raven stopped herself from blurting out that he has abandoned her and instead settled on a more diplomatic question, "Kori…" she started, "You do remember what happened with you and Dick before…right?"

There was a pause as sudden realisation etched itself on Kori's ridiculously pretty face and the features which seemed to be already washed out before seemed even more gaunt now that she quickly gained memory of what had happened before.

"Oh." Kori whispered, "I had forgotten." A line had formed in between her brows.

Raven sighed and bit at her dry lips carefully, trying to avoid looking at her best friend directly and trying to drag her empathic tentacles away from Kori; she did not want to know what her best friend was feeling now, not now that she had a vague idea of what state she was in, not now that she still—despite the distance—knew what Dick was feeling. It was hard knowing what both people in a conflicting situation; it was much easier to side with one person, just as she knew that Gar had sided with Kori.

Sigh.

If only it was that easy for her to take one side, but it wasn't. She had always known that Gar would side with Kori even if his friendship with Dick—like it had been on a number of occasions—was at its closest, he would still side with the flame-haired girl. It had a little to do with chivalry but mostly it was because there had always been so much drama between the two Titans—Dick and Gar, that is— and it was rooted in the fact that they had been brought up in similar ways—the sudden loss of parents, the unsteady upbringing, the need to continuously impress their father figures—but they had—at least on the surface—turned into completely different people and this—Raven searched for the right word—disgruntled them, disturbed them…maybe not on a conscious level but it was still there, the question was still there; why is it that he was brought up like me but didn't turn up like me?

Obviously it wasn't only that subconscious question that kept Gar from siding with Dick; he had already been growing wary of the leader ever since Raven's bond had grown stronger with time and how he seemed…different after Dick had come back from Gotham; he didn't like the way he affected Raven and he found Dick's sudden newfound happiness suspicious. Their friendship had grown strained too but she knew that they had both been trying to make an effort but it was futile, the distrust had been there and it had been obvious to everyone despite the denials.

Kori seemed strangely calm and no melodramatics were applied, "So," she concluded sadly, "we are truly on the break then."

"Yea, I guess so." Raven confirmed, not bothering to cover it with sweet reassurances.

There was an awkward pause between them as she watched Kori take it all in and resurface all the emotions that she had left dormant in her sleep before. Though her face was of calm, almost monotonic sadness, her emotions spoke differently to Raven as waves just rushed at her, hitting her chest like a tide against a rock and then skimming over the sensitive areas softly. It was like touching dry ice, there was the initial cold but then it burned quite badly until you questioned whether what you felt before was really the cold.

"He's just being an idiot, you know how hot-headed he can be, he's just overreacting, that's all." She suddenly felt an urge to reassure her, "It's his loss, OK?" She felt a little out of character when a strange, almost maternal sounding tone came out of her lips but she let it be as Kori sniffled softly, "If it makes you feel better, I will bet my soul on anything that Batman is giving him a good scolding for abandoning his team once again."

Kori giggled at that before covering her lips with her hands in embarrassment, a flush blooming on her golden cheeks suddenly, "I do agree, friend Raven, the Batman does not tolerate indiscipline. It would be most humorous to watch the scolding."

A small smile lit up on her own face as a trickle of delight weaved through Kori's emotions, "It would, it would."

"But…" her voice was melancholic again and Raven sensed Kori's melodramatic ways kicking back in again with the constant up and downs of moods, "he did the blaming of me and said that I was being irresponsible and that I was cheating on him. I mean, can you believe him?" She shook her head in disbelief, "It is, as you humans say, irrelevant to…anything! How can he do the claiming that I was cheating on him when he himself may have done so?" There was a tone of hurt in her voice.

"Like I said, he overreacted, he does that." Raven reached out for Kori's hand and felt the sudden warmth spread into her own, "You'll be fine, right? I mean, if it makes you feel any better I can tell you that he's not feeling any better than you are. Also, it might make you feel better that—only if you want—I can make him feel like he's got his period, a painful one at that." She smirked playfully.

Kori blanked, "I thought that Terran men do not have the periods…"

"They don't." Her smirk grew a tad larger at those two words.

"Oh, I get it now." Kori flashed a smile interrupted by a fit of giggles, "You are making a joke to make me feel better. You have been making more and more jokes recently, friend, malicious jokes…yes…but they are still jokes."

"Don't get too used to it."

She sighed and sat up and suddenly Raven felt anger swell up in Kori as thoughts started to flow into her, it was quite sudden and it grew at an alarming rate, "I believe he may have, you know."

"May have what?"

"Done the cheating on me. He was too hesitant in his answers and…he would not look me in the eye." She gritted her teeth, "I do not understand why but if he truly has, I will never forgive him. Never." A growl escaped her lips, "He cannot think that he can get away with humiliating me; a Tamaranian warrior of the highest rank. He cannot."

Raven stayed silent as Kori's anger grew, slapping Raven in the gut every time passion was involved. Kori was a dangerous person to be with when she was angry, it was not that she could not control her anger, no, it was just that the intensity was beyond that of a normal human and it was all heat and fire and just…alive.

"And he reacts by accusing me—me!—of cheating on him, as if I would do that. I would never do that; it would shame me…it would shame him and I love him enough that I cannot stand if he loses face. Is it truly my fault that humans appreciate my beauty and react the way they do? Is it not a blessing to have a job in which your beauty is appreciated? And he thinks that I should be above this modelling job, but how am I above it when this is one of the only jobs that may take me past the life of a Titan…unless I go back to Tamaran, of course." There was a sort of up-and-down tone to her voice that intimidated Raven, "Is that what he wants? That I go back to my native planet?"

"No…no…definitely not. He'd be even more of an idiot than he is now if he really wanted that. I don't know if he's cheated on you or not and despite this bond I don't think I ever will." Raven shook the niggling feeling in the back of her head out of her, "But, if he is, I say let him. He'll regret it. He'll regret hooking up with whoever he's hooked up with and he'll come crawling back to you. It's such an underhanded way to deal with things but if he doesn't appreciate you well enough then he isn't good enough for you." She sighed, "There are always other fish in the sea, Kor."

It wasn't that she was taking Kori's side, really. It was just that she herself believed that he may really have cheated on Kori, or at least he was harbouring some kind of love—not the platonic type either—for someone other than Kori and she had a sneaking suspicion on who it was. She couldn treally blame the girl either though, it wasn't like she had forced Dick to start fancying her again, she didn't have any powers as far as Raven was concerned. Raven wanted to give Dick the benefit of the doubt that he didn't cheat on Kori or at least he had some sort of excuse—whatever it may be—because she really did not like to think that someone as straight and narrow thinking as Dick Grayson would do something as deceitful as cheating on his girlfriend. OK, he had his low points at times; disguising himself as Red X to get near Slade…becoming Slade's apprentice…not trusting anyone on the team to be half as obsessed with Slade as he was…you get the gist…but that was different and—logically—not part of his personal life. To be honest, Raven had always thought of Dick's personal life as being a litte more organised—not that it wasn't way organised already—than his professional life but she guessed that the lines muddied occasionally and she didn't blame him; when you never leave your professional life but still have a personal life at the same time, you'd get confused too.

Raven put her focus back to Kori as she lay back on her pillow once more, eyes focused on the pale purple ceiling above. Her long fingers were interlocked with each other and she was laying down stock still, not moving an inch except for the rise and fall of her chest. She was thinking, Raven realised and quite thoughtfully too' her aura was calm, there were still undercurrents of anger and jealousy there but it was calmer than it had been before…it was as if she was contemplating something that she hadn't noticed before, or something she had known for a long time but had dutifully ignored.

"He is changing. I do not know if it is for the better or for the worse but he is changing, I have noticed." A small, quite monotonic voice spread on Kori's lips, "It is as if he understands already that in a year's time we will all be going our separate ways and he is doing the detachment of himself from this…from his life here." She bit her bottom lip and heaved a sigh, "It is like he is going through a crisis, friend."

Raven snorted, "Great, Dick is having a mid-life crisis when he hasn't even hit his mid-twenties." She spouted sarcastically, "Can't be too good for him, can't be too good for us either, actually."

"Mmmm…" Kori replied as if she hadn't heard a word of what Raven had been saying.

"Sarcastic points aside, Dick is probably just growing up. You know men," she stated, neglecting to mention that Raven did not know anything about them, "they say that men mature later than us females and so Dick being completely pissy about everything may just be some really strange second puberty or something. He's probably confused, his hormones—though past his teens—are definitely still raging and venting them through fighting isn't always the greatest of ideas and so we're left with an almost recognisable thing of a Grayson. Unpleasant, but it's the truth."

"And what if he does not come back as he was?" Passion started coating her friend's words, "What if this…thing…that he is experiencing does not wear off and I find out that I have wasted years and years loving this…this…person…and I find out that he ceases to be!? What do I do then, Raven? I do not want to lose him…I love him, by x'hal, even after he's accused me of doing unspeakable acts and even if he may have committed those acts himself, by x'hal I still love him." Apart from the tone of her voice and the emotions flooding out of her, physically you could not see that there was such zeal and such anger in her right now, "I do not want to sound like a weakling—I am not a weakling!—but it shames me to say that this separation hurts…I know that it has only been a few hours but, friend, he is a part of me as much as I am a part of him and to have that ripped out is not easy nor it is painless. Oh, I do wish that it would go away, friend Raven, it is shameful to be so reliant on a man, but sadly it is true."

Raven shrugged, gathering her own thoughts as Kori's words were processed in her own, complicated and worry-ridden mind. They were desperate and angry yet filled with the age-old Tamaranian pride that Kori always boasted about, it was actually one of the only things she did boast about. The pride reverberated from her like a familiar rhythm and colour bloomed on her cheeks as if she had just applied a bit of makeup on and her voice chimed beautiful though there was that rough aggravation that came with the frustration of it all.

"Maybe he won't change back…it's a possibility that even I'm able to admit…but it may be for the better, Kor, or maybe it'll make him even more hateable than he is now but maybe he is right and you two do need a break from each other. Azar knows you two have been attached to the hip ever since we first met." She realised that this commented seemed a little bitchy but one glance at Kori told her that she didn't mind, "You're strong, Kor, I know you are…you're one of the strongest person I have ever met and, mind you, I have met a lot of super-people during my lifetime and I know that you can get through this…I know that Dick has been some sort of shoulder to lean on but you are a Tamaranian and Tamaranians are strong, remember?" She pressed on, "They're warriors. You are a warrior. Look, to put a spin on things you have to show Dick that you being without him does not affect you at all, that you can do this…do life…without him." Subconsciously, she picked up Kori's hands in her own and smiled softly at her, "So, just try your best to be OK, alright?"

Kori sat up from her position and turned to face Raven, her green eyes brightening ever so slightly with a sort of determination—she didn't know what else to call it—and the smallest of nods were seen by Raven's ever watching eyes. Her shoulders straightened immensely and she regained her brilliant posture, looking straight at Raven. Her fleshy lips twisted for a moment, mulling over what she was to say and the pride was back again alongside with the anger…but the anger was more…subdued for some reason, like it was to be directed into another emotion.

She smiled, though her brows were furrowed together, "You are right, friend Raven, I must not show weakness…I am not weak…I refuse to be." A shrug portrayed itself on Kori's shoulders, "I will be living my own life and I will ignore his absence." A determined smile grew on her face, "This will be a great opportunity for me to…develop…further in my career. This…modelling…it is the current love of my life, friend Raven. Of course fighting crime is still of the upmost importance but, Raven, it is a most glorious sensation to be in front of the camera and to do the posing. I think I will be moving to the New York when we have…disbanded." The tone of her voice at the last sentence seemed a little glum but it was better than it had been before.

Raven frowned subconsciously, though she wasn't sure why. It had something to do with the future, for she was sure of it, though if it was something to do with the near or the far she wasn't sure at all. As organised as she may be, she did not like thinking of the future, she had always…always…thought that what was to be would happen and there was no possible way to stop it. Yet, if only her actions wouldn't have such a great impact on…

"Friend?" Kori asked, interjecting her thoughts, "Are you OK?"

Raven smiled briefly, "I'm just tired. Why?"

"You seem troubled, that was the all." Kori paused, her finger attached to her lip in thought, "You seem to want to do the cheering of me up but at the same time, you yourself seem to need some sunshine."

"I could always just be living up to my image as the resident Goth."

Kori giggled but her aura was serious, "You exaggerate." She looked up for a moment before looking back at Raven, "I believe that the word Goth derives from the word gothic meaning medieval or old fashioned. I do confess that the medieval times were anything but happiness and yet I believe that the old fashioned-ness suits you well, friend Raven. Oh…I am doing the trailing off topic." She shook her head, "No, this is not the gothic acts that the public say that you do but this is something entirely else. Do you not wish to confide in me, sister?"

Raven opened her mouth for a second but then closed it again; another problem for another time, "Really, Kor, I'm just tired. Even if I did have a problem, it's my business, OK?" She stated sharply but then softened her tone, "Look, I'm just tired and you worry about yourself rather than worry about me. Gar does that quite enough, thank you very much, it's like he thinks that I'm some sort of emotional wreck."

"Well, he loves you, that is all, and he does not want to see you hurt. I do not want to see you hurt."

She frowned, "I won't get hurt. Others will though, he will." She mumbled to herself.

"What was that, friend Raven?"

"Nothing…nothing. I think I'm going back to my room. I'll see you in a few, OK?"

Kori nodded, "I think I will be calling the agency, they have said that I have had a few more offers."

"You do that."

Suddenly Kori gave her one bone-crunching hug and she stood still in her arms, not moving an inch until Kori finally released her from the constricting position. Happiness and gratitude flowed into Raven like an intoxicating drug and all she could do was inhale all these emotions before she was left with her own emotions; her own grey emotions.

"Thank you friend, you are truly not as mean as the paparazzi—is it?—portray you to be."

Raven smirked, "Geez, thanks, I guess. Now I really have to go."

Raven glided smoothly to the door and phased out of it, therefore entering the hallway. She let out a heavy sigh as soon as she was out; another problem solved, another problem to be solved. It was like a really irritating domino effect that she felt like stepping on, though she knew that stopping it abruptly didn't mean that she would stop it completely, it was such a Catch-22 that she really didn't know if she should put any effort into anything anymore, it all seemed a bit useless and futile.

Suddenly, as she leaned carelessly on Kori's door, a dark shadow covered her and as she looked up, she couldn't say that she was surprised that it was none other than Garfield. He leaned over her unthreateningly, his right arm over her head in such a casual way that it was almost disconcerting. It wasn't meant to be intimidating, she knew, and she knew fairly well that Garfield was never—well, almost never, there were times when he bared his fangs at others, pun intended—intimidating on purpose. The way he leaned over was usually used to greet her in such a way that she couldn't avoid giving him a kiss without phasing away but now it just seemed confrontational and it made her feel ever so slightly claustrophobic.

"Hey." That was all he said, and all he needed to say.

Raven looked up, and though he wasn't that much taller than her, he was still tall enough to make her feel incredibly short, "Hello."

He looked down at her for a moment, his green eyes taking all of her in, and she felt it, she physically felt his eyes take her image in and for a moment she glared defiantly back, though over what, she didn't have a clue about.

"You look pissed."

She raised a brow at him, though she knew that her expression had softened.

"Like…angry pissed…not—y'know—drunk pissed."

"I've been better, yes, but you know how it is." She shrugged, keeping her own violet eyes locked with his, "These things are tricky."

"I can imagine, baby doll. How're you holdin' up?"

Raven paused for a moment to take in his overprotective self, "He's calmed…I've calmed. It's over and we can all move on." The sharpness entered her sentence unwillingly but she couldn't help it.

"I have no idea how the hell you can be so calm about it." He stopped leaning over her and instead stood next to her, sliding down so that he was sitting on the ground and he prompted for her to do the same, "Aren't you just so fuckin' pissed at him? I mean, I don't have him in my head but I'm pissed."

She followed in suit, sitting next to him with her legs crossed, "Oh, really? You don't look pissed." Raven stated sarcastically and found her grim demeanour glazing off a bit as he grinned toothily, "I'll be fine and you know it. You just don't want to admit that I don't need you hovering over me 24/7. And as for Dick…" she sighed, "…he can't be to blame entirely, can he? I mean, he's only one guy."

"He cheated on Kori, Raven, and he's left us. Again."

Automatically her hands curled up to cover her mouth as she felt him move in closer to her, "I know."

"You knew that he was cheating on her and you didn't say anythin'!?" Gar asked, clearly shocked at this revelation, "I mean, aren't you and Kori like blood sisters or somethin'?"

"Calm down. I didn't tell her because I wasn't sure if he was actually cheating on her or if he just basically likes this girl."

Gar groaned, slapping his own forehead in the process, "You talk about the chick like you know her." it wasn't a question, it was more of a statement, but Raven answered anyway.

"I do…not personally—I mean I've met her but only a couple of times—and she's a nice person; sincere, determined, no-nonsense and tough. She wouldn't have provoked him, you know?"

"Man…" another groan escaped his lips but this time it felt heavier, "there's like, too much drama goin' on. I don't get it, it's like we've been sucked into a bad episode of the OC. We can't handle it and we shouldn't have to. We have enough problems on our plate with the whole saving the world thing!"

"It'll pass; this infatuation, if it is infatuation, for the other girl is based on guilt and nostalgia and once he's come back to his senses and doesn't act like someone who's been knocked on the head a few times then it'll all go back to normal." She let her eyes close for a while but then opened them again, "In the meantime we'll all just have to make do."

Raven was careful not to mention her name; it would just mean that Gar and Kori would grow resentment to this particular girl when she had done nothing but meet with Dick after an extremely long time. She had her uses as well, now that she was no longer capable of being a 'superhero'—Raven hated that term—Raven knew that she was smart enough to use all her resources into helping the superheroes in any way that she can; it would have been what Raven would have done if she were in the same situation.

"It's not right for her to take him away from Kori though, you should've seen just how angry she was…I saw furniture burnin'!" He threw his arms around, exaggerating the movement of the flames on the singed wood.

She threw him a bemused look before taking her attention to the ceiling above, "A childhood friend, a childhood sweetheart. A different age."

"Age as in age-age…or age as in time-age?" Garfield asked her, and she wasn't sure if he was being serious or not.

Nevertheless she threw him a hyperbolically worried look, "Both, I guess, would suffice but I was referring more to time than actual age." She pointedly looked at him, "Though I guess when you're under a lot of pressure and nostalgia hits you right in the face, it can make you do things that you wouldn't normally do…normally feel because it feels comfortable…almost like…home. Doesn't really help that she's been through some hard times too." She ended it on that note.

"Hmmm…that's kinda weird."

He moved his position once more and this time leaned his head on her right shoulder and the pressure of it made her shoulder slacken a bit. It felt a bit strange for her to have him there, next to her with his head on her shoulders, clearly looking for comfort, but at the same time she found some sort of comfort in it too. He was quieter than usual but that didn't bother her, she didn't really feel like speaking either.

"It's quiet, yea?" He asked suddenly.

Raven nodded slowly, making sure that he wouldn't fall off her shoulders from rapid movement, "Too quiet even for my tastes." She listened on for any sound other than their voices, "Kori's better though, I checked. Well, better in the sense that she's going to do something proactive instead of staying in her room all day. I know; hypocrite." She threw him a glare but all he did was smile, "But not better in the sense that she's feeling any better, she still feels as miserable as she did before but now she's actually going to do something with it. She says that she's going to try to develop this modelling career that she's so neatly stumbled upon. Pretty sure Dick won't like it though."

"Serves him right for being such a jackass. When I heard them argue all he could talk about was how she shouldn't be modelling because he thought that she looked a bit skanky and slutty; way to talk to your girlfriend about the job she loves." He grumbled, not bothering to conceal the disgust that he was feeling about the situation.

"He was being a jerk, yes, but he was probably just jealous. He knows how drop-dead gorgeous Kori is and he cares too much for her to want to lose her to somebody else."

Garfield coughed meaningfully, "Talk about tact, though."

"Point taken. There was no excuse for him to explode in such a way."

She shuddered, remembering what it felt like when she had that sudden dose of emotion thrown right at her before wrapping her own mind into it. It had felt like she was the one who had been angry at Kori and that it was she that felt guilty about something that was not supposed to be done. It was unnerving and the meeting with her Emotions had been such an eye opener though in a painful manner; she did not like the choice.

"Baby doll."

"Mmmmhmmm?"

"How did you know when Dick and Kori were arguing? Like how did you know when he got pissed?" He shifted his head a bit before continuing, "I mean, what does it feel like?"

There was a pregnant pause between them as Raven pondered on this question, trying to give words to her answers, trying to make sense of the words that did come up in her mind. There were a lot of things that she felt when the person on the other side of the bond felt an extremely strong emotions and explaining them wasn't going to be such an easy task, especially to someone who needed a lot of visuals to imagine something; there was no way in hell he would understand it if she left it all mysterious and mystic-like.

"It's like…" she started then stopped again, "It's like when you're drowning and there's just all this water around you and for a while it's just like that, it's just around you and you can still hold on and tread the water." Raven closed her eyes and saw this very image in her mind, calculating it's accuracy, "But after a while you get tired and you can't move your arms or legs around again to keep you afloat and you fall into the water and all you can see is the water." Another pause, "Slowly, slowly the water enters your lungs and it becomes a part of you and the water isn't just around you anymore, it's inside you. It's not as morbid as it sounds because when the emotion is happiness then it can be a good thing, but that was the closest I could get to describing it to you." Raven added as a side note.

A sliver of fear seeped into his emotions and Raven turned to see him turn an unsightly shade of pale green, "Drowning, huh?" His voice was husky, as if he was just trying to find his voice.

Raven looked at him curiously, wondering why she would receive such a reaction from her explanation when it hit her. She was so stupid to not remember it, and it was made even worse by the fact that it was such an important part of his life, that it most probably made him the way he was now; funny but a little angry inside. There was a lot of stress put on her but still, it didn't give her an excuse to forget that his parents had died on a ship, that Garfield still beat himself up constantly about it.

"I'm sorry." She said finally.

He nuzzled her shoulder gently with the top of his head, "It's OK, you forgot. I sometimes forget that you're the daughter of, like, the most evil person out there."He chuckled forcefully.

"That joke was done in bad taste," she said in a mock-serious tone in response to his nuzzle, "but I'll let you slide this time because my description was done in bad taste."

"Yea, but I guess I get it now."

She hoped he did.

She really hoped that he did.

Raven hadn't started trying to figure out how she was to resolve her problematic bond with Dick and yet she had a sneaking suspicion that there was no other way to do it other than the solutions that were presented to her by her Emotions; to either sever her connection with Dick or to sever her connections with Garfield. And so she wanted him to understand, before she made any sort of decision, that it wasn't really Dick's fault and that if she did make the decision to end their relationship, she wanted him to not feel like he could've done something in order to save their relationship because he couldn't and neither could she if she chose that option. Don't get her wrong, she didn't want their relationship to be doomed but there was something to be said in being prepared for such an end, to diffuse the anger that she knew Garfield would be feeling if she had made that choice; the anger felt towards her, towards Dick and most importantly towards himself.

"I still don't like him." He grumbled.

Raven shook her head pathetically, "I don't think anyone likes him right now. He's being a bastard and he knows it himself and even I find it pretty inexcusable that he left for the reasons he's claimed."

"He's bein' such a prick." Another statement came out of him, "And he better get everythin' back to normal after his frickin' temper tantrum or not I'm gonna sock him."

She rolled her eyes at him as his emotions turned to that of amusement, "You wouldn't be able to land a punch on him." It wasn't the nicest thing to say, but nevertheless it was true.

"Whatever." He stuck his tongue out at her, "Even if I couldn't beat him up—which I so could!—I could always turn into a lion or somethin' and eat him." It was all said in such a matter-of-factly tone that it made her smile.

"Effective…but that would be cheating."

"You suck." He pouted.

"Whatever." It was her turn to retort in such a laissez-faire tone.

In reply he sat up properly and brushed a stray hair from out of her face, gently stroking her cheek in the process of doing so. His fingers were warm against his face and without realising so; she rubbed her cheeks against them, revelling in the warmth and familiarity that was exerted by them. He seemed to find comfort in his own actions as well as his aura glowed quite warmly in a way that made her empathic powers lap it all up in greed and his smile had turned soft, not the normal innocent and naïve smile that she was so used to receiving, but she noted that at the very least he was smiling and not being totally pissed off at Dick. So, OK, the anger hadn't quite disappeared yet but at least on the surface it seemed like it and that was all Raven really wanted for now.

Hmmmm…

She too, though she wasn't really one to admit it, wanted everything to go back to normal, to the way it was before. Yet, unlike Gar, she knew that logically nothing would be back to normal after this and everything hung quite uncomfortably until every one of the Titans made some kind of decision, and of course those decisions would inevitably affect the other Titans as well. She just hoped that these decisions would have positive results but right now, she couldn't be sure of anything, and if she couldn't be sure of anything, she did not even want to think about the problem right now.

"Rae?" He interjected her thoughts and was brought back down into reality.

"Hmmm?"

"You're OK right?" He asked, his voice sounding quite determined, "Like really OK and not 'I'm-pretending-to-be-OK-so-that-no- one-will-be-worried-about-me' OK?"

Raven smirked, "I'm so OK that if I wanted to I could send you off to Indonesia for all I cared."

Garfield chuckled then wrapped his arms around her, "That's my baby doll." He gave her a tight squeeze before releasing.

He stood up, dusting imaginary dust off of himself, then stretched out a hand towards her, his large green hands seemingly inviting. She cocked a brow at him, indicating that she was comfortable enough sitting on the cold floor and really couldn't be bothered to actually get off the floor and to stand up.

"C'mon, Raven." He said, his tone almost impatient.

Raven frowned; there was almost a déjà vu sense to his invitation, as if his tone of voice was familiar to that of a time before. His smile was welcoming and his aura was full of mischievousness and it longed adventure. She had an urge to say that his emotions were happy but she knew they weren't, it was more like the prologue to happiness, that feeling you get just before you truly become happy. She loved this feeling, sometimes even more than the happiness itself, because you just knew that something good was going to come out of it and that you couldn't stop it, no matter what you did. It was that anticipation in which you had just made a decision and didn't really know what to do with that decision and where it was going.

It suddenly clicked; now she remembered when she felt him feel like this. It was when they had their first real date—she didn't count the one before where they had to cut their date short because Plasmus was rampaging around somewhere in Jump City—and she had finally told him that she would like to take a chance with what she thought was a ridiculous prospect of a relationship. There was that rush that she felt from him when she had uttered those lips and it had made her own heart thud strangely and it all became centred into one silly little act that involved them crossing the street before the red light had turned on again. There really wasn't a single emotion to describe it but at the same time, plonking a million different emotions to describe that feeling didn't feel right either. It was merely—she nodded mentally to herself as she thought of this—indescribable and to be honest she didn't feel right in putting a word to it anyway.

"What are you planning?" Raven asked slowly.

He pouted, "C'mon baby doll." He reached out his hand once more, "We're goin'."

"Where?"

"Out." He scrunched up his brows, "Bowlin'. Yea, we're goin' bowlin'."

Raven frowned, "We can't just leave Kori alone…and what will Vic say?"

"Doesn't matter…and Kori can take care of herself. C'mon, you look like you need a bit of fun and bowlin's fun."

She paused for a moment, thinking on whether she should go or not before taking his hand and letting him pull her up so that she would stand.

"Fine." Her voice was deadpan but she couldn't help but feel a little cheered up inside, "But if I win—which I will—you're coming with me to the book convention coming next weekend."

He frowned exaggeratedly, "That's mean and you know what? I'm totally goin' to kick your ass in this whole bowlin' thing. When I win, you're goin' to play Mega Monkeys with me when we get back."

"Fine but don't count on winning, OK?" She smirked and gave him a sidelong glance.

"You wish, baby doll, you wish."

She smiled inwardly and knew that he was right; she needed a little bit of fun, something that she hadn't really experienced in a long time. She missed that sensation that came to you like a well earned sugar rush and she knew that if anyone knew how to have fun, it was Garfield, and to be honest, right now, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible because she knew that in the coming days she would have to make her decision and who knows? Maybe these memories that she had gathered with him would be all that was left of their relationship.

Their wonderful, unconventional and comforting relationship.

A/N: Like it? Liiiiiiiiiiike it?

:grin:

Hope you did. I actually went bowling today, was loadsa fun.

See you all next time!

:hugs and kisses: