Teen Titans © DC Comics

26. Forever and a day

"Gnar gnarrk gnarrk."

Kole gaped at her best friend in abrupt surprise. "You have a date tonight?"

Gnarrk affirmatively nodded, arrogance poised as he threw out his chest. Crossing his arms, he stated his name a few more times.

"And she's coming over? Wow, Gnarrk, I had no idea you had a girlfriend."

"Gnarrk gnarrk gnar gnarrk."

"Wait, she's coming over for me to meet her tonight?" Kole felt panic overcome her sensed, truly shocked to her such news. "Uh, can I see a picture of her?"

Gnarrk blinked in confusion, and Kole internally slapped herself, forgetting how frightened her best friend was around technology. However, much to her surprise, Gnarrk took their communicator from the desk and pointed to the picture section. Kole took the device from him, flipping through the photographs before Gnarrk halted her by pointing out a young woman she had never seen before.

She was a stunningly beautiful young woman. Her hair was auburn and reaching down to her back with turquoise eyes and a pale complexion. With pink lips and a shy blush, Kole thought she was gazing at the queen of the undead. Kole could make out a bright, crimson turtleneck hitching up to the middle of her neck, and her smile was demure and small. By appearance alone, Kole could tell she was a quiet girl, a complete opposite for the boisterous Gnarrk.

"Wow, she's gorgeous," Kole murmured as Gnarrk beamed. She smirked, raising a curious eyebrow. "Hey, how come I've never met her before?"

Blushing, Gnarrk sheepishly scratched the back of his head, reiterating his name a few times.

"What? I would so not hate her."

"Gnar gnar gnarrk gnarrk!" he snapped, crossing his arms.

Shaking her head like a mother to a weeping child, she soothingly replied, "No, I'll always support you, and now that you have a girlfriend, I'm happy for you."

Gnarrk brightened considerably, hugging her tightly as Kole gave a cry of jovial surprise. Throwing her in the air, he quickly rushed over to the kitchen and pointed to the cocopolinos overhead. Kole nodded, crystallizing herself from the tip of her antenna-like hair to the soles of her boots. Snatching her, he waved her around gently above his head, and the pale green fruit dropped into a wooden bowl underneath them. Returning to her flesh form, Kole took a particularly small fruit and bit into it, nodding in approval.

"Gnar gnarrk gnar gnarrk gnarrk gnar!" he shouted suddenly, waving his hands.

"Oh, come on, Gnarrk, it's okay. She'll show up. I don't know how, but she will," she reassured, patting his arm.

He pointed to the sky, adding, "Gnarrk gnarrk."

"She has a jet. Of course, she has a jet. Gnarrk, where did you meet her?"

Little hearts popped up in the caveman's eyes, clasping his hands in startling delight. Kole cringed, stupefied at his bliss. He unleashed a quick, repetitive stream of his name, baffling Kole as he went too fast for her to understand. Gnarrk strolled around her absentmindedly, speaking rapidly. Suddenly, Gnarrk's foot slipped, and he jerked his body in the direction of his falling, screaming. He was too oblivious, too afflicted with lovesickness that clouded his vision and caused him to tumble to the ground.

"Gnarrk!" Kole cried, running down the stairs to her rolling friend. As he reached the bottom, Kole gasped as she realized he was motionless. Increasing her pace, she dive-bombed to the bottom, legs pumping faster than ever before. Lunging herself next to Gnarrk, she frantically pushed him, urging him to wake up.

"Gnarrk?"

The voice was angelic, from the Lord himself. It was soft and caring, filled with worry. Kole quickly turned, finding the young woman from the photograph before her. A hand covered her mouth, clearly in shock at Gnarrk's fallen form. Hesitantly, she knelt by him, gently nudging him. Kole noted her ebony, knee-length skirt that brought a seductive air to the tall girl, asking tentatively for her name.

"Oh, you must be his best friend. I'm Lilith Clay. It's nice to meet you," she greeted with a hinting smile.

"Yeah, same here." Kole smiled quirkily, trying to concentrate on the situation at hand. Heaving Gnarrk's arm over her shoulder, she asked, "Can you help me carry him up?"

Lilith nodded, grasping the unconscious caveman's hand with her dainty, smooth one. Hoisting it over her shoulder, they began a long, tiresome tread back up to Kole's home. The stairs stretched on forever, endlessly posing new steps to climb. The girls continued to plunge forward, dragging their feet along. Gnarrk weighed them down, making them pant heavily as they forced themselves up the stairs. His muscular build felt like they were being pulled down by a massive stone, yanking them back down, but their resolve continued to pull their dear friend upwards.

After the strenuous trek upwards, they were breathing hard, dropping Gnarrk onto a grass mat. Kole checked his pulse, finding it steady and reported the good news to Lilith. His girlfriend grinned, stroking her long fingers through Gnarrk's matted hair. Kole gestured over to the dinner table, offering Lilith some food to which she gratefully accepted. The two girls quietly made their way over to the kitchen, and Kole sat down in front of Lilith, ushering her to go on.

Lilith smiled, biting into a diminutive cocopolino and chewed. A blissful smile emerged on her face, moaning from the sweetness. "These are very ripe. Were they recently picked?"

"Gnarrk and I just got them before you arrived. He's never spoken of you. How'd you meet Gnarrk?" Kole questioned slight suspicion.

"My father owns a company up here in Siberia. We were doing a test run where a freak snowstorm separated me from the group. I wandered around until my consciousness slipped, and I ended up down here. John found me-"

"Wait, who?" Kole perked up, cocopolino in mouth.

"John," she repeated.

"Who's that?"

"Gnarrk. He said he wanted a regular name. We settled on John."

"You can understand him?" Kole internally slapped herself on the forehead. Obviously, Lilith comprehended him if she could date Gnarrk in the first place. "Uh, dumb question. So, what happened next?"

A light blush graced Lilith's face as she continued, "John nursed me back to health, and we bonded. He's an amazing person, and I met him before you did. He's told me a lot about you like how you're his best friend and that you're the kindest person to him." Lilith smiled at Kole, adding, "He also mentioned you are prone to kidnapping."

"That was one time!" Kole blurted as Lilith chuckled lightly. Frowning, she crossed her arms and muttered, "Stupid Dr. Light. Hey, how come Gnarrk never mentioned you?"

The question seemed to perturb Lilith, eliciting a surprised look from the auburn-haired beauty. "John…John never told you about me?"

Kole nodded.

"Oh, I didn't know. I-I thought John was comfortable enough to tell you about me…"

Kole winced at Lilith's saddened expression. Quickly shaking her hands, she replied, "Uh, don't worry! Knowing Gnarrk, he probably just didn't want me jealous or think that I was losing him."

Lilith grinned shyly. "He can be secretive. I think so as well."

Both girls giggled at the unconscious Gnarrk's form. When he began stirring, Lilith and Kole turned to him as he groaned slightly. Gnarrk's eyes fluttered open, wearily regaining his surroundings and found two beautiful faces beaming down at him. Gnarrk quickly shot up, arms wrapping around the two girls blissfully.

"Gnarrk! Gnarrk gnarrk!" he jeered eagerly.

"Hey, Gnarrk. We're fine," Kole insisted with a bright smile. "Don't worry about us. We were just getting to know each other."

Lilith nodded. "And I have a feeling we will become good friends."

Gnarrk grinned broadly, nodding eagerly before pointing up to Kole. "Gnar gnarrk gnarrk? Gnarrk gnarrk gnar gnarrk."

"I'm not a brat!" Kole snapped.

"No, she wasn't acting jealous. She's a very sweet girl," Lilith urged. Winking to the bubblegum-haired heroine, she murmured, "Seems we were right."

At Gnarrk's confused look and tilted head, both girls laughed at his expense. He frowned, demanding to know what was funny as he merely grinned. For Gnarrk, he was only happy since they were not fighting over him, even though he had secretly hoped for a catfight.