Pet Names

Rated: K+

Raven cherished life — all of it.

She tried to remind herself of the teachings she'd come to learn back on Azarath, even as the loud screeching and yelping filled her ears the moment they'd entered the pet store.

It was like an instantaneous headache, and she visibly grimaced as the sudden loud noise and juvenile emotions overcame her senses. One by one, she began the arduous process of blocking them out until her mind was a little more quiet again.

Too much. Too loud. Make it stop.

Azar, she was trying. She squeezed her eyes shut, desperate to bring a halt to the pulsations throbbing between her temples. Was this what life was going to be like for them, too?

"You alright, Rae?" His voice was — oddly enough — the only resounding calm in the storm. When she opened her eyes and met his familiar, concerned visage, it was like a lull in the otherwise crazy environment she'd willingly strutted into. Everything else became a faded sound — background noise she could suddenly easily tune out in order to focus on him. Even time itself seemed to come to a winding crawl, as she watched him slowly blink at her with worry etched into the lines of his youthful features.

Little did he know how often she used him as a beacon of salvation from her own inner demons and turmoil. Raven liked to think of him as her personal lighthouse, there to keep her afloat in even the darkest, stormiest of nights.

Even the Other seemed to hum and resonate with approval from within her — in a peculiar singsong fashion — as if to be in complete blissful agreeance with how she now viewed him in her life. In fact, her very being resonated with the emotions, making her nerves spark with a familiar warmth that started from the depths of her loins and worked its way to her fingertips, toes, and hairline.

Happy. Good. Love.

She couldn't help the microscopic smile that annoyingly tugged at the corners of her lips. All the positive emotions bubbled up within her, and they were vexingly contagious, regardless of how basic and primitive they were in nature.

"I'm fine. It's just…a little loud in here, that's all," she confessed, not without a small smile.

Beast Boy relaxed at her reassuring tone, the jade of his irises twinkling again. "If it's too much, we can go…"

She didn't need to read his emotions to know that he'd have been devastated if she agreed. Raven shook her head no. "We came here for a reason, and we're not leaving until we pick out a furball to go home with," she reminded him quite sternly.

He grinned at her response, the vibrance of his elation surging and consuming in a way that drowned out everything else around him. If Raven had to describe his disposition in one word, she'd choose sunshine. Not only was it all encompassing, warm and bright, it was also equally as blinding and overbearing when one attempted to take it head on.

Beast Boy then extended his hand out towards her, palm open, and waited for her to take it. "Then let's go find our new Mister Buttons." He grinned toothily, the deep lines around his mouth accentuating his faint dimples.

He never was one for patience though, and as the empath was currently preoccupied with studying the patterns on his palm incredulously, Beast Boy yanked her hand in his and started barreling his way further into the store before she could even think to utter a word of protest. Raven found herself frowning, brow creased, even as he dragged her down the aisles in uninhibited excitement. "Mister Buttons?" she repeated dryly, evidently unamused. "Tell me that isn't what you're thinking of naming it. Besides, who said we're getting a boy?"

"Fine. Miss Buttons, then. I'm not picky." Beast Boy was practically running along the bustling aisles now, carefully dodging any salesperson because he knew how uncomfortable it made his girlfriend whenever she was forced into conversation with strangers.

Raven couldn't help a secret smile at his dismissiveness. A good thing, or he might have started asking questions far too soon for her liking.

At the implication of their hand holding, Raven's heart swelled and soared with emotion, without any permission at all — the way it usually did these days. It was uncontrollable, how warm and soft everything was when he was so forward with his affections for her. He was hers, and she was his, after all. They were together, and she finally had someone to call her own, in a life that was hers at last. Normally, these sort of sappy feelings were but an afterthought to the rigid empath, but lately, even the smallest romantic gestures set her stomach aflutter, and quickened her heartbeat. The reason for this unprecedented behaviour had become apparent to her only recently, but still, Raven was left at the mercy of her own baser instincts, and so she would have no choice but to allow it. Thankfully, Beast Boy had been none the wiser to her slight change in demeanour. Or, in the least, he hadn't made to mention it yet. A blessing in disguise, as it granted Raven the reprieve she needed to gather her own courage in preparation for that conversation.

"What about Cotton?" she mused aloud, catching him off guard, but he didn't seem to really hear her once they'd reached their destination.

They finally came to a stop by the cat adoption windows, and Garfield gave her the eyes.

Raven folded her arms over her chest and clucked her tongue, shaking her head curtly. "That's notwhat we agreed on, Gar," she chided him in her chilling tone of voice. Starfire had always told her that she had to have nerves of steel to withstand the infamous pouty eyes that belonged to Garfield Logan. Even then, the way his shoulders slumped, and his gaze drifted to the floor, made her heart drop to the pits of her stomach.

Not even her demon heritage made her feel as evil, callous, and cruel as she did in that moment, despite knowing it truly was for the best.

"Yeah, yeah. Start with a hamster, go from there," Beast Boy reiterated the instruction in monotone, his voice dropping an octave lower as he kicked his feet against the tiled floor.

She eased off in her body language, and sighed before heading over to the cages nearby. A few furry critters domesticated the place, in varying sizes and colours. Beast Boy joined her shortly, and they both surveyed the hamsters that seemed otherwise undisturbed by their presence.

"Cute, huh?" he commented with a smile, eyeing the one currently running a marathon on its little wheel.

Raven pursed her lips and scrunched up her nose in mild disgust. Mostly due to the rank odour of feces filtering out from the cage. "I guess so…They kind of look like furrier, fatter rats, though."

He chuckled at that. "You don't think they look like cotton balls? Since you want to go with Cotton as a name, I mean."

She shrugged. "It was a suggestion. And for the record, it's still leagues better than Mister or Misses Buttons."

"What about Rex?" Beast Boy ignored her jibe.

Wrong.

Raven had to agree there. "I don't think it's a boy…"

"How can you even tell with all that fur?" Beast Boy raised an eyebrow, squinting in at the cage to get a better look at the hamster's genitals.

"It just doesn't feel right," she explained, hunching her shoulders as if a cold breeze had just blown by her.

"Hmm," Beast Boy scratched his chin. "Dutchess?"

Wrong!

Raven made a face. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I think she could be a Dutchess. Her fur is golden!"

No!

"Try again."

"Ginger? Lady? Precious?"

No, no, no!

Raven scowled. "Those are terrible, Gar."

It was probably by pure chance that she saw it at all, the sign next to the cat cubicle right next to them. Immediately, it seemed to call to her, and the Other— for once — remained quiet at her internal suggestion. No agitation, no argument.

Raven smiled. She'd gladly take silence as a concession.

"Nalah," she said, and it was as certain as the day.

Garfield stood up to his full height, a look of confusion muddling his handsome features. "Like, the Lion King?" he clarified, dubious.

He didn't wait for her to answer. His face lit up and he gasped as realization finally dawned on him. "That's perfect! The hamster, but as fierce as a lion! It's adorable for a little fuzzy critter like her!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.

Beast Boy then turned and pawed his finger at a hole in the cage with an eager smile, and the little thing grabbed a hold of him with its tiny hands, and bit down. "Yeow!" he yelped, immediately withdrawing his hand and shaking it.

Raven giggled. "I'm not sure what you expected to happen, especially when she's named after a lion, of all things."

He soured and cradled his injured finger against his chest. "She's got a mean streak is what she's got," Beast Boy grumbled, narrowing his eyes at their future new pet.

"Hey, Raven?"

"Hmm?" The empath was currently busy watching the hamster stuff some food in its ever growing cheeks, like it was some kind of challenge to see how much it could fit in there.

"Why Nalah? How'd you come up with that? Not for anything, but you've never been a big Disney fan, and I should know; I've forced you to watch the two films you have seen. Lion King was not one of them."

Raven hummed, enjoying the brief power she held over the changeling in his lack of knowledge. "You could say I had some help deciding."

Beast Boy fixed her with a look of disbelief — not unlike the first time he'd ever seen her use her powers — before she nodded towards the sign behind him in exasperation. He turned his head to look, and then said, "Ah. I guess it's also a pretty good name for a kitten, y'know." He waggled his eyebrows at her in a final attempt to sway her, but Raven's smile fell and he stopped. There was no wiggle room with her when it came to pets.

"Hamster first, then cat. If you can manage taking care of the little one, we'll consider something bigger."

"Worth a shot," Beast Boy shrugged. "Let me hail down a salesperson and get this show on the road! In the meantime, start looking at cages and food for Nalah!"

Before she could even open her mouth to protest, he was gone, racing down the aisles and swinging his head from side to side in search of a familiar set of clothes.

Raven shook her head, but she couldn't escape the feeling of unbridled joy that had seeped out of Garfield when she'd told him that she was ready to raise their first pet together. It had stuck with her all this time, and spread through her like a tingling warmth that moved from within her bloodstream itself, like she carried a piece of it with her wherever she went.

She smirked at that; in a way, maybe it was.

"Did you need any help here, ma'am?"

Raven was startled by the voice behind her, and she practically jumped out of her skin, her hand moving defensively to her belly. The salesperson smiled at her, and she was able to gauge that it was genuine. Somewhat a surprising turn of events, since most retail workers often hated their jobs, and oozed with dissatisfaction. The woman glanced down briefly at Raven's hand, and said, "Oh, are you looking for a future companion for the little one?"

The empath staggered, but the Other — although silent — was still very much present. It felt like a roll call, the way the older woman had announced it, and the tiny life form growing within the demoness seemed to respond as if to say, 'here'. The truth was, Raven wasn't even showing. She was hardly in her first trimester, and thus, still didn't have the courage yet to tell Garfield that she was expecting his child. And yet…

"We're getting a hamster," she blurted out, her face feeling flushed and pink suddenly. "Naming her Nalah."

He wasn't supposed to have left her there in the first place. This was all his fault.

"Nalah? That's a wonderful name!" the employee remarked. "You've probably got a list of names I bet."

Raven gulped. "N-not really…just one."

It was difficult to discern if they were still talking about hamsters.

The employee was going for the keys to fetch the fussy, little critter that both Raven and Beast Boy had picked out. "Oh?" She raised her eyebrows, curious.

Raven stared down at her shoes, after having made sure that the green changeling was still nowhere in sight. She couldn't help the way both her hands came to instinctively guard her abdomen, just as her thoughts returned to what was growing inside her. "Chaaya…Her name, it's Chaaya."

Good.

Raven had known she'd liked it the day she'd seen it on the television a few days after she'd discovered the pregnancy. One of the weather forecasters, her name had been Chaaya, and it had flashed on the screen as Garfield was lazing in her lap, too busy tapping away on his phone to be paying anything any mind. An insignificant moment in time, and yet, she couldn't help but be drawn to it, the same way she'd been drawn to Nalah. It had given her a sense of calm, when her mind had been rattled and chaotic from the information she'd been withholding from her partner. Somehow, the name cemented the presence, and Raven knew that it was right.

"It means shadow in Hindi," she added, unable to shut up now that she was in this awkward social situation. "My mother, she was part Indian."

"That's a very pretty name," the saleswoman assured her. "It's probably corny, but I'm a firm believer that moms just know sometimes. When it's right, it's right. And when it's wrong, they'll tell ya by giving you a swift kick in the gut! At least, that's what my Ma used to say about me!" The older lady chuckled, eliciting a nervous, crooked smile from Raven that would have probably sent all four of the other Titans recoiling in fear. "Now, was there a cage you two had picked out yet, or did you want some advice?"

Raven absentmindedly tucked some hair behind her ear, still feeling embarrassed from her uncharacteristic oversharing with a total stranger. "Advice would be appreciated," she mouthed delicately.

Although picking out the right cage for their new fuzzy roommate was also important, Raven would have vastly preferred a how-to guide on telling her oblivious boyfriend that he was going to be a father to a demon-baby instead…

"There you are!"

Much to her relief, she found her in his study. Not that Beast Boy really used the study for anything other than gaming and entertainment, but there were a few books lining the shelves, and a nice, rich mahogany armchair in the corner, courtesy of Raven.

So, to her, a study it was.

He had his back to them both at the opposite end of the room, still too absorbed in his match on his computer to have even heard the girl's nonsensical sputtering and happy clapping. Once the headphones were on, the world could have crashed and burned around them, and Garfield would be too busy yelling at his screen to notice.

Raven sighed and rolled her eyes before stepping into the carpeted room to scoop the unsuspecting infant up in her arms. Chaaya cooed and wiggled excitedly in her mother's embrace, happy for no good reason other than existing, it seemed. Raven got a whiff of her diaper and flinched at the smell. How babies could sit in their own excrement would always boggle her mind for as long as she lived.

The empath then strutted over towards her boyfriend to stand before him until she'd gotten his attention, and patiently waited for him to pause the game and remove his headphones. Garfield made to look between both his screen and his wife and child a few times, as if uncertain as to which he should attend to first. Eventually, Raven's icy purple glare helped him make the right decision with a little more haste.

"Uh, hey, what's Chaaya doing here?" he asked, somewhat out of breath from his nervousness.

As if on cue, a bubble of spit dribbled down the infant's chin, and she bounced again, rubbing her small hands together while smiling giddily in his direction. Beast Boy couldn't help but reach out a hand and tickle her plump little shoulder, to which she cooed louder.

"You tell me," Raven replied. "One minute, she was playing in the living room while I was reading, and the next, she'd vanished without a trace!"

The changeling smirked up at his lovely wife knowingly. "Got you a little worried, huh?"

Raven shifted the baby's weight in her arms and sighed, hating — and loving — the way it made her feel when he looked at her like that. Especially when she had other pressing matters to confront him with "Worried? She's technically another spawn of Trigon's, so yes. I'm always worried, Gar."

He had to frown at that. "She's more you than him, y'know."

Raven shook her head, irritable. "That's not the point. The point is, I can't seem to keep her away from you for even a minute!" Raven argued, changing the subject exasperatedly. Even now, Chaaya screeched and struggled against her mother's grip, reaching out towards Garfield like he was a raft while she was drowning in an ocean.

He took her from the arms of his frustrated wife, and sat her on his lap before she could whack Raven in the face with one of her flailing limbs.

"What do you mean? She's perfectly fine when she's alone with you," Garfield assured her, nuzzling the soft, dark hair on their daughter's head.

Raven wiped at her sweaty forehead, and rubbed at her tired eyes, the dark circles beneath them evidence of just how little sleep she got over doting on the baby. "Yes, everything's perfectly finewhen you're not around, but on the occasion that she's awareyou're somewhere nearby, she doesn't hesitate to follow you everywhere! She can't even walk yet, and she's already made a habit of crawling away from me to go wherever you go!"

"Azar, I wish we stuck to the hamster and cat; she nearly gives me a heart attack twice a day!" As if on cue, Raven glanced to the side where she could hear Nalah furiously working her wheel in blissful ignorance. Their black cat, which they had aptly named Mister Buttons on Beast Boy's absolute insistence, was currently lounging on a nearby windowsill, cleaning his fur.

Beast Boy chuckled as he helped soothe Chaaya, cradling her tenderly in his arms. With a thumb in her mouth, her eyes half-lidded, and her little head resting contently against his chest, the infant girl was ready for her nap time, it seemed. "She's only living up to her name, Rae. The name you picked out for her, I'll remind you."

Raven had to pause at that, her hands coming to rest on her hips as she pondered his meaning, which seemed to elude her currently exhausted mind.

"She's my shadow. My little shadow. Isn't that right?" he explained teasingly, wiggling the tip of his nose against his baby daughter's as she came to life with a sharp giggle. The slope of her nose was smaller and daintier, but still identical to Garfield's, making the movement even more charming than it ought to have been.

Raven couldn't help but watch in adoration, the panic and fear dissipating to be replaced by what she now knew to describe as pure, unfiltered love. Intoxicating and consuming, that was the singular emotion that Chaaya had left within her after she'd been born and Raven had been so afraid of losing her connection to them both.

A sense of unconditional love for her newest family.

Both of which, in this moment, were hers, and no one — not even her father or her brothers — were ever going to take that away from her.

Not without a fight, at least…

FIN