A/N Sorry for not posting in a while. I have a new idea in the works and popped this out in my free time. It was mainly just a thought that came into my head while wandering through a bookstore. Enjoy!
I began the morning with the sound of a blender going off. I looked at the time on my phone, something I would've never thought I would have, but as the team grew older, bigger, and farther apart, a simple Titan communicator no longer made the cut. 9:30 showed in white letters, I mentally groaned. I never wake up this late. I groggily got out of bed, changing into black leggings and a gray sweatshirt.
I looked at myself in the mirror in ordinary clothing outside of my usual leotard. Things had changed a lot.
I had put in effort into becoming more open around people. It's still difficult, but now I'd actually give a small laugh when someone made an especially funny joke, mainly beast boy... I mean changeling. Dear Azarath, even beast oh had changed. I mean, he actually grew up! He definitely grew physically. He grew taller, now closer to Nightwing's height. He could no longer be considered skinny; instead, he had a lean yet muscular body.
Why was I thinking about him again? I mean, it's not as if I was impressed by his actual growing maturity while still maintaining a hopeful cheeriness. He certainly had matured, no longer wasting all his time on TV and video games with Cyborg. He became sort of the leader during battles if Nightwing wasn't here. He even began to mentor newer superheroes. My face felt warmer as I thought more and more of the changeling.
I shook my head and walked out of my room and into the Titan living room. By the way, we changed the name from teen titans to simply Titans. After we all passed the age of 20, we felt that this name was a better fit.
As I entered the room, I saw Starfire pouting one of her alien shakes into a cup. She began to drink the strange liquid when she noticed me awake. She quickly broke into a smile. "Good Morning, friend Raven! Have you had the good night's rest and evaded the bugs of the bed?" Starfire said with a purple mustache from her shake.
I couldn't help but smile at her antics. "Yes Star, I had a good sleep. I'm gonna have to skip out on breakfast. I gotta go somewhere." Starfire could only mumble a cheerful "mhmm" because she had taken another drink from her shake.
I quickly made my way out the door and onto the streets. I didn't have anywhere to be, but it was still nice to get out and be away from the team once and a while. I walked down the streets of Jump City. I could easily teleport to any place I wanted to be. But I rather enjoyed exploring my home city.
I walked the streets until I saw a quaint bookstore. By the look of its worn bricks, it had been here for years. This faintly surprised me. I thought I had known all the bookstores in the area. I went in to explore the store, excited about what I might find.
Apparently, my first impression was wrong. As soon as I entered the seemingly small store, it expanded quite a bit. Truth be told, the bookstore was a good size with rows of books against the wall and even had some chairs and tables to sit and enjoy the books. A sweet scent made its way to my nose, and I realized this store had a coffee and hot chocolate bar!
I began to drift through the bookshelves picking out interesting titles, putting books back but mentally bookmarking the names in case I changed my mind. I was emersed in the ambiance of the bookstore when I saw familiar green skin.
Of course he wasn't in his uniform, just civilian clothes. Jeans and a red sweatshirt, but there was no mistaking the ever-present green skin and pointed ears.
He currently was turned away from me with his head buried in a book. I knew that Garfield had grown, but I never took him like a book nerd.
I snuck behind shelves and stood in an effort to move in front of him to see what book could possibly have changeling so entranced. I moved and shifted until I found a comfortable hiding spot behind a Romance Section's bookshelf. I took a better look and saw that Garfield was reading… Animal Farm. "That's a bit on the nose," I thought with a dry tone.
I was about to get up and continue looking for books, but instead, I stayed. I'm not sure what exactly made me stay. Maybe boredom, curiosity, pure awe at the fact that Garfield was reading a book, it could have been any of those reasons. or perhaps something more…
So I stayed, silently watching my eyes wandering from the book placed firmly against the table with only his right hand to hold down the pages, following up his arms to his face where his mouth was currently thoughtlessly biting his nails on his left hand. I had honestly never seen this level of concentration displayed on his face. His eyebrows slightly pinched together while his emerald eyes trailed along the inscriptions on the page, only moving the rest of his body when he shifted to turn a page. He sat slumped over the Book as he took in every sentence and paragraph of the story. My hand began to play with my hair as I shifted into a more comfortable position.
Now I had seen Gar rip apart bloodthirsty robots and barrel through bad guys like they were nothing, but for some reason seeing him here, focused, mature, and with a bit of strand of hair in his face he kinda looks… hot?
"Gross, did I really begin to even consider that?! ...well, it wasn't the craziest idea… I mean…" I thought, moving so my back laid against the shelf, slowly sliding to a sitting position as I threw my hands over my eyes to block out the idea. I removed my hands and pushed back a couple of strands from my face behind my ear. "..he has changed… but would he even feel the same? Who would actually like a demon spawn?"
I stole a quick glance and saw that Garfield had remained unchanged in his position. "I know the Titans love me like family, the family I never had before. But loving someone like a sister and loving someone like a.. girlfriend… is completely different. I know he'd die for me, but could he ever truly love me and hold and not see the monster lying underneath?"
I released a long sigh, "probably not," I thought. I stood and straightened myself dusting off invisible dust from my leggings, fixing creases that weren't there. I was about to take a step when I stepped face-first into a red cotton-covered chest.
"Hey, Rae fancy seeing you here," Gar said, leaning against a bookshelf, his arms crossed squarely across his chest and a smug grin on his face.
"Hello, Garfield." He had been completely caught me by surprise, but by God, I wasn't about to let him know that.
"So," He said, slowly drawing out the "O," "I'm guessing you just got here?"
I straightened up, seeing my possible lifesaver. "Yeah, I was just taking a walk through the city and saw a possible addition to my bookstore roster."
"Oh, ok," he said, pushing his hair back. "So enjoying what you see?"
"Yes, I mean...I just came in and started browsing when you came along." I said, looking him dead in the eyes.
"That's really cool. Though you know what's weird?" He said, with a devious glint in his eye.
Internally any shred of confidence I had immediately disappeared. "What?" I said, acting oblivious.
"Well, you see the thing is… I coulda sworn I smelled your scent about 15 minutes ago." He said, "and also from this exact spot too."
My eyes unconsciously moved downwards, "You did? I mumbled
"Yeah, it's kinda amazing what enhanced smelling, and hearing can do." He said smugly with his annoyingly bright smile. "So, any reason you'd be watching me for that long?"
I knew I was blocked into a corner. I'd have to come up with a convincing reason for why I'd be hiding behind a corner and lying about it. I took a breath, put all my chips on the table, and said: "If you forget this, I'll take you out for coffee and buy that book you were reading."
He pursed his lips and leaned closer, " I think I'd like that very much," he whispered with that same stupidly beautiful smile.
A/N Feel free to comment on any advice or general comments. Thanks! Zander out :D