Disclaimer: Don't own it. End of. The plot is mine though. MUAHAHAHAHAHAA....!
A/N: Sorry it took a while. Also, hope you guys liked the way I did the chappie, it was pretty new but I kinda like it.
Don't forget to read and review!
PS. Anyone here completely LOVING Rob Thomas' "Her diamonds"? So tres amazingggg.
Chapter 23
His eyes flashed open, blue crystals glowing fiercely in the dark.
His chest heaved and hollowed constantly, making way for the beat of his heart to try to pump oxygen back into him as he gasped and gawped for air. His fingers clawed at nothing, reaching out for his chest, thumping with his fist, to keep it moving and to keep it moving faster. His skin was cold…so cold…but—as he fingered the thin skin at his stomach—it was the only comfort he had while beads of sweat dripped down like the soft sheen of laminating plastic. His eyes squeezed shut as he felt bile crawl slowly up his throat, forcing its way up his inner pink-y flesh and his cheeks sagged as he retched down his front; nothing of substance came out, just watery yellow and brown mess that streaked the T-shirt he didn't remember wearing. The inside of his mouth tasted disgusting now, and he used the back of his hand to wipe the rest of the bile and vomit off his mouth, chin and neck. It was stiff, he realised after a while, it was as if he hadn't used his hands in a while and they had forgotten how to move. His fingers didn't seem to want to cooperate with him when he urged them to move and his neck creaked slowly as he turned it.
Dick Grayson blinked twice and his eyesight slowly cleared from the watery mess it was before.
As soon as he could see properly once more, it came rushing back at him like a cement block thrown at his face; he remembered every single detail of what he went through. His nails dug into his palm and he wasn't sure whether or not he bled from it but it didn't matter, what he went through before was far more painful, the most pain he had ever experienced in his life and it probably would stay with him longer than he wanted it too.
It hurt.
The insides of him swirled and continued doing so, finding no substance to swirl against; it was empty…he was empty. He clutched his stomach, hoping to find something physically in there, but couldn't and he groaned, whispering to himself words of wants and needs. The other presence, the presence of that other person, had disappeared and now he couldn't rely on the bond for a crutch anymore and though he knew he should be happy, his insides protested as they struggled to walk on their own two feet, finding their way without her presence, her emotions.
Raven.
Raven.
Suddenly, something clicked.
Raven.
His eyes focused in front of him, relieved that he was still in the same position as he was before; face to face with Raven, but he was worried when he realised that she was not breathing, or if she was, he could not detect it. She didn't look dead—though her pallor was definitely a shadier grey than it usually was—and even though her hands were cold when he touched her, there was that hint of warmth that told him she wasn't that, she was only close to it. He panicked as he grabbed hold of her shoulders; panicked because he didn't know what to do, and panicked because he had lost the ability that could find out what exactly was wrong with her. Her lips had taken on a dark purple colour and she remained still in her position—that once mirrored his before he moved—still and calm and serene…but there was something about the line of her mouth that seemed to find the concept of any calmness in her right now as being pure drivel. He didn't know if she had gone through the exact same thing as he did, but if it was anything like his, he knew that she was hurting and in so much pain that such a lineless expression on her face should be impossible.
Dick tried everything in his power to wake her and when that failed, he did only what he thought was best; he uncurled her fingers, straightened her legs, flattened her back and pulled her out of the circle of candles as if it was a savage horde of flames, his own body falling like jelly as if he was physically hurt. He laid her gently—or as gently as his weak arms were capable of—on her bed with her legs straight and her arms straight beside her.
She did not move from that position.
He pressed a couple of fingers at her chest, hoping for a heartbeat and he found one. It was small, too weak to sustain her already fragile body for too long, and he knew that if he was not quick about finding help, she might not survive. Except…except he found himself not knowing what to do; it was odd, he was Dick Grayson…he was Nightwing…he always knew what to do.
Maybe he did know but his body refused to comply and he found himself kneeling beside her bed with his fingers lamely trying to sustain that heartbeat. It was small, a mere flutter, but he had to keep it moving.
His eyes moved from Raven to the circle that they had been in and he saw the candles lighting themselves up one by one, as if some magical, delicate hand were relighting them for another ceremony. It was so fast that his eyes hurt and he was so mesmerised by the movement that he had forgotten that it was completely unnatural for candles to light up on their own; he just had to watch.
The candles lit up one by one, their orange flames burning brightly, dancing eerily to the sound of silent music. Their tips elongated subtly and if Dick wasn't so mesmerised by them, he would have missed this tiny action that fire was able to do, but usually, individually and not all together, as if it was synchronised and planned in some sort of mystical way. The smell of incense filled his nose and he groaned as the tantalising scents spun his mind in a million different ways.
Something was wrong, something was very wrong.
He tried to remember what had happened before the procedure, words that had been exchanged, actions that had been made, but he couldn't and it was as if someone had been messing with his mind or like his mind hadn't been exercised in a while. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? The procedure had only gone on for a couple of minutes, hours at most. It moved slower than he remembered, but at least it was moving.
The flaming tips were long now and the smoke produced was even longer, smooth clean lines that twirled together to form a spiral, with a pointed top heading towards the roof, like an upside down spinning top. He left Raven for a while and as he moved closer, he realised that the smoke was a dark black colour, almost polluted but not as when he tried to cut the smoke lines, the lines deterred.
The lights suddenly shut down and a flash of bright light roared through the windows for half a second before settling down to become a dark, dingy purple. Screeches of pain were heard and Dick had to shut his ears to stop them from bleeding as the screams continued on and on and on.
His eyes moved quickly from the smoke-y circle to Raven and back again.
Something had gone very, very wrong.
This was her message.
---
The flowers were beautiful and they shone compared to the diamond bracelet that he had given her. Koriand'r had always loved nature beyond anything and though diamonds were indeed a thing of nature, there was nothing more pleasant that the smell of roses or the slight wilt of the petals. The bouquet in her hands didn't disappoint as they had everything from cultured flowers such as roses, carnations and sunflowers—her favourite, personally—to lush leaves and small, almost incompetent wild flowers like daisies and baby's breath. It was like she was Mother Nature holding on to the wonders that grew on this planet called Earth, and she had to smile at the thought that even though she loved her own planet of Tamaran, it lacked these things called flowers and was a dusty desert with sparse plants.
She smiled up at him and he smiled back.
Kori blushed.
"So, I take it that you like it." He grinned at her, "Better than the diamonds?"
"Oh, Simon. You are strange…" She tip-toed and pressed her lips gently against his cheek; he was taller than her, "but…I do love the flowers. These are the tiger lilies, no?" She asked, pointing to the pointy orange flower that glowed amongst the others.
Once again, she had to smile. It was a beautiful day, so perfect for this human ceremony called the "date" and she was immersed in its every proclamation of love and affection. She had gone out with Simon Bellman yesterday but he had, once again coerced her into going out with him for the nth time this month and she was happy, happier than she had been in a while.
Where was Chace Crawford, you ask? Well, Kori decided—in a rare moment of defined logic—that since they lived far from each other—nowhere near Jump City—she was better off finding someone else. He agreed and they both conceded that they had a lovely time together; fun and frivolous but nothing serious. They were still friends to this day and she still had the—what was that Earth word?—giggles whenever she saw him on that television show Gossip Girls.
And so, she had Simon.
There was no romantic, over the top story that she would have loved—Kori had been watching too many of the chick flicks that female humans enjoyed so much. Kole was to blame and now that Kole had left, she had been left alone doing the watching all by herself—but it was pleasant enough. Much, much better than the arranged marriages back on Tamaran even though she had no objections against arranged marriages. They were just too…unromantic, no?
Anyway, she had met Simon when she was rushing off to a casting that she was extremely late for. Her head felt like it was going to GAFOONK! that day and she had to get there on time, she did not want the designers thinking that she was a galrog, it was just unthinkable. So, there he was, and he helped her get there on time—offering her a ride in his car—and in return, she asked—politely, in the Terran way—whether or not he would like to do the coffee afterwards. It was a good coffee-date and she liked the way he blushed as red as his hair when he was embarrassed and he liked her accent and so they did the hitting off.
There really was not a day that she had not, at the very least, talked to him.
His smile grew larger at the sight of her smile.
"So, where are we venturing, Simon?"
He grinned, "I'm taking you to the best bakery Jump has. My best friend's the head baker so he told us we could get free cakes."
"Oooo!" She squealed in delight, squeezing his arm, "I do love the cakes. They are a delicious form of confectionery. I am so glad that you have done the forcing of me to go out with you today."
"I knew you'd like it."
Kori beamed up at him, "I cannot wait to devour the delicious cakes. Do you think that your friend puts the—um…what the word?—the icing on them? They do make it even more delicious than usual…"
He nodded and she squealed. There was the fuzzy feeling that she felt in all nine of her stomachs—humans only had one, wasn't that peculiar?—and it grew each day that she spent with this human called Simon; he made those—she pursed her lips—fuzzies, as Kole once described them. Maybe she was finally peeling away the adolescent love that she kept for years, but she was not so sure yet, and so she was still with him, to find out whether or not he would be the one that she would love and keep loving for years to come.
"So, Kors, are you OK with walking? Coz the bakery is only a couple of blocks from here and the weather seems perfect and…" his words trailed off and the blush of his skin touched his rough red waves.
"You are the most silliest person I have met in this country, Simon." She blushed a bit, thrilled at the flush of his skin, "Of course I am fine with the walking, who would complain about enjoying such fine weather? Really, if I had singing abilities I would be doing the singing of my heart out!"
He leaned over, kissing her lightly on the lips and so they walked; slowly and surely to enjoy their surroundings and the company of each other.
Though she wasn't sure of whether or not this thing was…real…she was sure of a lot of things. She was sure that she liked his—he had explained them to her once when she asked what they were—his freckles. She liked the way he laughed and she was definitely sure that he liked her, maybe even more than she currently liked him, she was not so sure. Kori was also sure that she liked the way he handle intimacy.
She blushed at this thought, though he didn't notice, and if he did, he let it be.
Kori had heard—and watched on those chick flicks—that when dating someone, along the line—a week, two weeks, a month…in her case it was three weeks—there would be a point which is called the coming up point. She had figured out that along the line, the other party—the male usually, though sometimes females did it too—would ask their partners if they would like to do the coming up into their house and this would be followed by a few of the alcoholic beverages and a night of…
She flushed red, and this time he did notice, cupping her chin in his hands, "Are you OK? You look feverish."
"Oh no. I am well, thank you." Her cheeks reddened further, "Are we almost at our destination?"
He laughed at her enthusiasm, "Almost, almost."
…it wasn't that she was scared of being seen as overtly sexual when they had done it and scare him off—humans, she had discovered, were still pretty prudent on matters like intercourse—but she had been nervous because she had never done anything of a sexual nature with anyone other than Dick Grayson. She knew it was coming and she wanted to come in, but she was still nervous. He sensed that and calmed her down, told her that it didn't matter if she didn't come in that day, that she could come in later and he would still like her. That statement in itself had made her decision and she had gone in and it had been…it had been good. There were no words—none in any human languages or Tamaranian—to describe how good it actually was and it was partially because of him; he hadn't rushed her and he had taken it slow. He was gentle and she enjoyed it.
"We're almost there, your feet hurt bad, honey?"
Kori stuck her tongue at and laughed, "They are fine, Simon, do not fret so much."
"Well, it'll be worth it, I promise. Jake, this guy, is a genius when it comes to—" he suddenly stopped and his gaze looked straight ahead, "What the hell is that?"
Kori followed his gaze and a feeling of dread suddenly came over her, and with that feeling, screeching sounds accompanied the thing that they were now both staring at. They were staring right at the top of the Titan's Tower, and on the roof there was the most terrifying image Kori had ever seen since Trigon's attempt to take over Raven's body and use it as a portal. The skies grew dark for a moment before turning bright once more and black lines of power intertwined with each other to create a raven, as big as she had ever seen, and its screeches were heard for miles. The wings flared from one corner of the sky to another and they were sharp to the point of pain, the beak even sharper with its loud, torturous screams.
Her hands gripped Simon's arms even harder.
The eye, though, was what she feared most; glinting red among the dark feathers, it spoke too many words to her for her to comprehend. But she understood one thing though; the date would have to be postponed.
She rounded at Simon swiftly, "Simon, I must flee. I remember that I have important business to do and…" she kissed him squarely on the mouth; fierce and full of love and she knew by the way his eyes closed for a second that he longed for more, "I must…I will be doing the calling you tonight. I promise." She pursed her lips as she pulled away, "Please do not be furious at my actions."
It was then that she ran, ran as fast as she could. She was sure that he had shouted something after her but she couldn't hear as the wind rushed past her face, forcing her red curls back behind her. The screeching noises echoed in her ears and despite the speed that she ran at—for there were a million people out there and she couldn't just up and fly—it still followed her no matter what she did. However, every other noise, every other image was tuned out of her senses and all that mattered was that she got back to the Tower as fast as she could.
Her sister was in trouble and she had to go back and save her.
The raven continued to stay atop the Tower, a symbol of desperation and death.
Koriand'r needed to go save Raven Roth.
---
Sometimes he wondered if he would still be able to do all this leadership business without being half-robot; it was exhausting to the point of insanity and he applauded Dick Grayson for not going completely insane with all the work that had to be done. He had been stuck in this room for hours sorting out things that he didn't think needed to be sorted out; since Titan's East was a new group, there really was no organisation and paper work involved but since the original Teen Titans' fame grew, so did the bills and the paperwork and the plans for the future.
Victor Stone continued to tap his fingers into the keyboard as he pondered on this, momentarily stopping to take notes down manually. Though he knew that he could have easily just typed the written down notes into his own head—it was the easiest thing in the world and even easier to be accessed. He had files in his head like the files on a computer—he liked the feeling of a pen between his metallic fingers and though the nerve and sensory systems in his body weren't perfect—the scientists at S.T.A.R Labs had tried to copy a human's nervous system perfectly but failed—just the basic feeling and outline of a pen scratching on paper was good enough for him. Despite his love and dependence on technology, he sometimes wondered why tools such as pen and pencil were underrated; personally, creating your own handwriting was as satisfying as designing new parts for the T-car.
Sigh.
Today, Vic was just doing another job on his to-do list; consider which heroes would be good enough and complementary enough to make up the new Teen Titans team. There were so many that actually applied for the job that he wasn't so sure who he would pick, and more importantly, how this made the Teen Titans look. He wasn't sure whether they wanted to join because the Teen Titans had an efficient system –more efficient, anyway, than the Justice League's. Their one was chaos due to the hundreds and hundreds of members—and a really good reputation or because they thought it was a stepping stone towards the big leagues—including groups like the Outsiders or, as always, the Justice League—and that it would be easier to get in by joining a smaller but reputable team first. It was a hard job but someone had to do it and since Dick wasn't around to help him—he had been gone for a month. In the beginning, he told everyone he was sick and was going to take sanctuary in his own room but after two weeks the rest of the team alongside Kole, Jinx and Gnnark had grown suspicious of his absence. With his skills of overriding systems such as electronic locks, Vic found out that Dick was nowhere to be found in his room—he had to go it alone. It was a good thing that he was good at sorting out people from first impressions—in exception to Jinx and a few others, he was almost never wrong—or else he wasn't so sure whether or not he would be able to do it.
The screen flashed for a moment as it changed page and the words that he typed in quickly followed suit in straight, uniform numbers that never wavered. The loud clacking of the keyboard continued to fill the room even after he stopped and the almost silent buzz of the computer kept him company. Technology never slept, there was only the thing called recharging.
That reminded him that he had to recharge in about half an hour or not the others might find him sitting stock still at the computer staring at nothing and doing nothing. Vic shook his head for a few seconds; he had to save the files first before he logged off.
Truthfully, Vic had already chosen a few people who he thought might be suitable for the team and had even made a list of people he should seek out. There was the current Robin—Tim Drake, was it?—who, though was not as good as Dick in terms of fighting skills—who would be? Not everyone was born an acrobatic to a Romanian circus troupe—he made up with intellect, and rumours had it that he surpassed even Dick in terms of his detective skills, which was pretty surprising. It was said that he was stiffer than Dick socially but he had made a few good friends among his old team—Young Justice—and they had told Vic that he was an extremely good leader, despite his cynicism. Vic knew that Batman would be reluctant to part with yet another Robin but Tim himself had applied and for some reason, Vic knew that he didn't see the Titans as just another stepping stone.
His human eye fuzzed up for a moment as tiredness overcame him—superficial, built in to indicate that he needed to recharge—and a grim frown formed on his face almost instantly.
There was also these two called Superboy and Wondergirl—a different Wondergirl to that of Wonderwoman's sister, Donna Troy—and though they hadn't applied to replace the current Teen Titans, they had been in the Young Justice with Robin and were among the people who recommended him to Vic. If they were anything like their older counterparts, Vic was sure that they would have an extremely strong and solid team and he mused on the thought of having a younger Trinity in the Teen Titans and whether or not that would differentiate the way they would sustain their own team when things got rough.
As Vic looked into Jericho's file—he would make a great addition to the team. But what would be the risks?—he pondered on those that he was sure wouldn't cut it. As much as he liked Kole and Gnnark, he knew that he couldn't put them in the permanent team since their ability to fight relied too much on each other and though he commended them for their team work, he couldn't imagine what they would be like separately. As for Argent and Hot Spot, they were still on trial here in the Tower but Vic knew that Argent wouldn't like leaving Britain officially.
A few more clicks and his eyes glazed over a couple of files that seemed so uniform with the others that he didn't even consider them anymore. It wasn't that he had anything against these other superheroes, it was just that he was exhausted and though he knew that many of these people had the potential to be great, he had to consider whether or not they would work well in a group or not.
Suddenly, the files stopped at Jinx's.
He sighed, biting his lower lip as he read and reread her file; he had memorised it by heart. After the time she spent in the Tower, he knew that she wasn't suited for the team and it hurt him to think that about her. She was independent, didn't like to rely on others and still—even after all these years—dabbled in criminal activity even though he told her to stop it because one of these days he wasn't going to find a loophole for her and would end up either paying a large fine or going to jail. Instead of straightening up, she had just laughed in his face and told him—with her ways—to forget all about it. He always regretted it afterwards, after some clear thinking, and then he would go back to the drawing board to think up new ways to convince her because really, all he wanted to do was find a home for her, someplace where she could really, really call home.
She could always stay here for another year, he pondered; since he was staying on for a year to help out the newbies but…after that…it was for Jinx and the new Titans to decide whether or not she would stay in the Tower or whether or not she would be cast out. It was not a happy thought, Vic decided.
She could also, he thought after he took a long sip out of his personal coffee mug, come with him to New York after that year was done. This would mean that he would be following Kori—though obviously for different reasons; she had her modelling career to think about—as he had been offered by his parents' old colleagues a job in the S.T.A.R Labs branch in New York that specialised in developing new technology and cybertronics. It was his field, he would instantly have a job and—since they were so generous—he would also already have a place to live; it would be like killing a lot of birds with one stone—hypothetically impossible, but you get it, right?—but still, he didn't see how Jinx would fit into all of this. She would hate going to New York, especially with him; if she wanted to go to New York, he could imagine her nagging him, she would find a way herself and not rely on some humongous hunk of junk to get there.
Vic could only shake his head.
Now was not the time, he realised as his arm started to beep violently, shouting at him that he must recharge or turn to stone. The bright blue of his room seemed hazier in his eyesight which told him that his alarm was ringing true and that, there was no more time to waste. As soon as he got to his bed he immediately plugged himself in and let himself shut down to recharge fully. The room went dark and the noise turn to quite but Vic always kept the basic senses on so that if anything were to happen, he would know and immediately take action.
Suddenly, after a few minutes, scratches were heard at his door and Vic's mechanic eye immediately turned red, alert at whatever was at his door. He unplugged his charger—frowning at how little he had actually charged up—and listened closely to the sounds beyond his door, still laying flat on the metallic piece he called his bed. The scratches sounded dangerous, followed by loud bangs that sounded like bruised fits slamming desperately into the steel doors. He lifted his heavy feet stiffly, moving slower than usual and as he neared the door, the fists continued and the scratches. Despite the fact that it was pretty obvious by the sounds that whoever was doing this was weak, the noises never relented and actually, they grew more frantic.
Vic could feel something inside him feeling rather agitated and nervous as he pressed a few buttons to unlock the door, and as the door opened, he knew that he couldn't hide his surprise.
"Vic." The other man breathed in an out, gasping our vile air as he clung onto Vic's torso,"Vic."
Vic frowned, not knowing what to do as Dick continued to cling onto him desperately, "Dick, where the hell—!?"
Dick shook his head frantically, his eyes wild and his voice empty. He didn't seem like his normal self, there was a sort of agitation and irritation in the way he moved, anger and hunger was thrown in there too but…but…what bothered Vic most was that there was fear in Dick's eyes. Fear, pure untainted fear.
"It's Raven. It's…Vic, for the love of God…Raven. She's…it's Raven."
---
He gritted his teeth as he found Matt fooling around with some girl, almost completely drunk and half naked in the couch in the apartment in the middle of the day. Sure the weather was being a complete bitch with a heat wave like this but it was no excuse for groping some girl with barely anything on—knowing Matt, he had probably coerced the girl by using the weather as an excuse—plus Garfield had already warned Matt about today.
"AGH!"
As Matt and the girl—Garfield wondered who she was, he hadn't seen her around—ran around squealing and grabbing their clothes—Matt actually had the nerve to throw an apologetic grin at him—Garfield wrestled Didi into his arms to make sure that his eyes were completely shut. Though Didi wriggled a bit in his arms—complaining about it suddenly becoming dark, apparently, little kids plagued with almost terminal diseases still had the chance to get scared of the dark—before calming down. By this time, Garfield had glared at Matt and the girl hard enough that they had ran away in their messed up clothes out of the apartment—Matt would be back soon, he was sure of it—leaving Didi and Garfield all by themselves.
Slowly, he released his grip off Didi's eyes to find Didi smiling with glee.
"YAY! SLEEPOVER!"
For the past month that he had been here, Garfield had been watching Didi work hard at every experiment and every treatment and he always showed a brave face even when Garfield knew that Didi was in pain. His cheeks would puff up and he would turn very, very red, but Garfield noticed that Didi would never ever cry and if he did, he would go off to one of his favourite hiding places in the labs and cry for a few moments before returning back to the scene. He didn't know why it took him so long, but it took Garfield Logan a month before he decided that it was time to let Didi out of the cage for once, and so he suggested a sleepover.
Of course, Didi was ecstatic—Reaaaallly, Garfielddd? I'm allowed to sleepover at your housee??? DIDI IS HAPPY! Do you have a Hot Wheels set? I like marshmallows in my cerealll…CAN WE JUMP ON YOUR BED???—and though Garfield had to go around asking the authorities, including Didi's parents, whether or not it was allowed, after he had finally gotten permission, he had started to feel good about this. He was good with kids, and Didi was one of these kids that he really liked.
"So, kid, waddya wanna do first?"
Didi beamed at him and shoved a couple of DVDs of the animated series of the adventures of Spiderman, pointing energetically at the DVD player to the point that Garfield was kinda scared that Didi's hand was gonna fall off. He rushed towards the TV and set sensibly in front of it, not even squirming with impatience, but instead his face was filled with anticipation, but he never rushed Garfield and so the former Titan felt rather relaxed when he shoved the first DVD in. Didi clapped as the introduction started playing and Garfield took this opportunity to grab some cookie dough ice cream he had bought especially for the sleepover with Didi; at first he hadn't been so sure what flavour to get but he reckoned that everyone loved cookie dough so that was that.
As the film played, Didi kept enthusiastically shoving the spoon full of cookie dough ice cream in his mouth while laughing like a maniac and getting caught up with some of the exciting action scenes. Admittedly, Garfield was doing this too, and it was even worse since he didn't look like an adorable little kid—though, he thought he was adorable enough for the ladies, thank you very much—and so what he was doing was probably thought to be disgusting and childish. He couldn't blame them really; ice cream dripping on your chin doesn't seem so important when you're watching a really good cartoon, and Spiderman was one of them.
This activity soon moved on to other more vigorous activities such as a good old game of twister—he lost, who knew Didi could twist like that?—despite turning into a snake a few times, and they both started to play Mario Bros on Matt's Wii until it made a suspicious noise, forcing them to exchange glances and drop everything in case they had accidentally broken it. They jumped on the bed a few times and when it was time to get into pyjamas, they had a classic who-could-change-fastest-in-a-sleeping-bag competition—they had gotten sleeping bags since they planned to sleep in front of the TV in the living room—and this time Garfield had actually won. Though he gloated, Didi didn't actually mind since he won all the other competitions and he sincerely seemed to be having fun.
Seeing as it was Garfield combined with a little kid, they didn't eat anything healthy for the whole day, and by nine pm—Didi's bedtime, both the doctors and his parents were really strict on this factor—they were both snuggled in their sleeping bags quite tightly with their last snacks in their hands; Garfield was enjoying a bucket of popcorn while Didi was engorging a banana split that Garfield had made for him, complete with lashings of chocolate and maple syrup and a cherry on top.
"There, that should be enough healthy food for a day, shouldn't it?" Garfield teased, referring to the bananas and cherry in the banana split.
"I like bananas." Didi squealed as he shoved another mouthful into his mouth.
Garfield grinned, "That's good. Bananas are good for you, they make you big and strong." He paused for a moment before smirking at his friend, his pointy green ears twitching, "But I bet you like the ice cream better…"
"Mmmmmm…." He seemed to concentrate really hard on this statement before breaking into a grin, "Yea! Didi loves ice cream! Especially chocolate!" He stated, shoving another spoon of chocolate ice cream into his mouth, "AND STRAWBERRY!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, circling the puddles of strawberry ice cream in his bowl.
"You don't say." He laughed before sobering down, "Hey, Didi, what do you want to be when you grow up?" He asked sincerely, realising that though Garfield had known Didi for quite a bit now, he didn't know any of Didi's dreams and aspirations.
"Ummmmm…Didi wants to be a…a…" another pause, before his face coloured with glee, "a race car driving spoon in space!"
Without warning, Garfield burst out laughing until his sides hurt, rolling around in his sleeping bag; it was a preposterous dream, one that he might have said back when he was younger, and he knew that—from that statement only—that this kid would grow up to do big things. Only someone so creative and imaginative could think up a concept so ridiculous—race car driving spoon in space!?—that it was almost laughable, but imagination went far when it came to careers and Didi would do great things.
"What? If Jimmy Neutron can go to space, why can't I!?" Didi complained.
Garfield grinned, wanting to tell him that it wasn't the going to space bit that was making him laugh but the race car driving spoon that made him crack up. He didn't want to hurt Didi's feelings though and so he just nodded, which Didi—the innocent and trusting kid that he is—just accepted and went back to finishing up his banana split.
"OK…Didi doesn't wanna sleep but…I know that sleeping is good for me so Didi will sleep." Didi certainly did not sound not sleepy, his voice had slowed down to an almost gravelly nature and his lids seemed to grow heavier and heavier, "Didi says goodn—"
And that was that, Didi fell asleep right there and then in the living room, curled up in his snugly sleeping bag in front of the TV with the empty bowl right in front of his head. Garfield shook his head as he took a glance at Didi, grabbing the bowl to go stuff it into the dishwasher, and pondered on what they were going to do tomorrow; he might take Didi to the pier if Didi was up for it, he knew that Didi would like the carousels and the cotton candy.
The water was cold as he twisted the tap and he waited for a couple of minutes for it to turn hot, taking the time to put on a pair of rubber gloves so that he wouldn't get scalded when he washed the plates. As soon as it turned hot, he wet the bowl and scrubbed it, letting the water flow over it as his own thoughts over flowed his mind; he wondered how bad Didi's illness was and whether Didi would even reach an age where he could achieve his aspirations.
He shook his head, knowing that it wasn't any of his business, but he couldn't help it; for the parents to stick him in S.T.A.R Labs, it must be a pretty bad disease as the place was expensive and if he wasn't a superhero, he knew that he wouldn't be able to afford the place. It made him think about his own future and whether he was going to have one beyond the one he had now. It had been a month since he had finally quit the Teen Titans and he had put every piece of him into getting cured, gotten every painful jab and gruelling examination in order for them to find a cure for him so that he could live a normal life. What was normal though? It had been pretty hard adjusting to a life with no real responsibilities—Matt's parents' funded him and there was enough money for both of them—and he wondered whether or not he liked it, then decided that he really didn't and he was pretty bored. There was no turning back from here though; he wouldn't—couldn't—allow himself to move back from sunny, happy L.A back to the drama filled steel Titan's Tower back in Jump City, he just couldn't. He had done everything to make sure that he was no longer involved—paperwork was boring but it had to be done—and had even made attempts to distract himself from what he thought might be happening back in Jump by going to malls, meeting and making new friends and also by just walking around the city. It was a beautiful city, loud too, but it felt strangely empty to him.
Maybe…he thought long and hard…maybe this was his chance to pursue the career that he had always wanted. Maybe, since the divorce from the Teen Titans, he could actually concentrate on his dreams.
Was it plausible for him to turn into an actor?
He had always wanted to be one, ever since he was a kid, and he had always wanted to be an actor on the big screen. Garfield had every respect for theatre actors—those on Broadway and West End—but that wasn't where his heart was. He had always wanted to be someone you could watch on a regular basis, whether on TV, VHS or DVD and he had trained hard for it; from his minor work in the series Space Trek and had even gotten involved in Drama for his Minor.
Hmmm…
It was plausible enough since he was in the City of Angels where celebrities were made and if he were to get a real—one that he was passionate about—job then he would have to go into something that had to do with entertainment; he had a knack of making people laugh. He would have considered getting a job as a zookeeper or an animal behaviour analyst but he had abandoned his zoology studies—dropped out, they didn't have any online courses—as he had to leave as soon as possible. It was both an emotional and physical thing; he couldn't handle their attachment to each other and his body may be weakening if he spent too long waiting.
That was that, then. He was going to find himself an agent and audition for things; commercials, small TV roles, whatever. He was going to start tomorrow and he was going to do it right. There was more to L.A than sun, sea and relaxation…the stars? Yea, they worked hard.
Garfield Logan was going to act. He was going to be a star.
Suddenly the phone rang.
He dried his hands and picked the phone up.
"Gar." Dick's voice trembled through the line, "Gar…it's Raven."
The phone dropped.
A/N: Hope you guys liked it! Don't forget to review!