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bbraeweek20 · 2 years

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BBRae Week Day 3: Formal

Summary:

“You want the truth? I was just trying to make it last until prom.”

“What?” And here he’d thought Raven was perfectly happy with her super-tall boyfriend.

“I knew it was doomed. I just wanted a proper prom night with a boyfriend. But he couldn’t even do that for me.”

If she was any other girl he’d be touching her shoulder right now. “You wouldn’t have enjoyed prom with a crappy guy anyway,” he said sensibly.

“Maybe,” she replied immediately. “Maybe memory would have smoothed everything over and looking back I would think I enjoyed the night.”

───

[Saturday, 11:32 am. 6 hours and 28 minutes to Prom.]

They were at Raven Roch’s house, and that pissed Gar off beyond words. She was his sworn enemy, and he’d almost made it through all of high school having no idea where she lived—and now he was in her territory.

No one else seemed to care. Dick and Victor were both avoiding his meaningful glances and potent sullenness—Vic was his ride, and Gar lived on the edge of town. He was trapped here until they decided to leave.

Kori, sweet Kori, his piece-of-sunshine friend who Gar would do anything for, was the reason they were here. A day before prom, she was still fretting over which hair accessory to submit to the hairdresser to complete her outfit. They had been hanging out at the mall when it had suddenly occurred to her she needed the opinion of her newest female friend. Hence, to Raven’s house they went. No matter Gar’s protests.

Raven being more or less in Gar’s group of friends was a relatively recent development. She had always been tangentially around them –Vic tutored her in Math and he said she was funny, which, fine, Gar had a low opinion of Vic’s sense of humor anyway; she was on AP Literature with Dick, and he said she was the kind of kid who looked intimidating but was just serious and actually pretty nice to talk to, which Gar would believe when he saw it- but her hanging out with them had only started when Kori had begun to work at that clothing store with her. Kori had attached to Raven fast, and one day Gar had turned around and suddenly Raven was there, among his friends. No one had asked him if he was fine with it.

And he wasn’t! He had good reason to hate her. She’d always been callous and careless—she stomped over people’s feelings like they weren’t real. He’d known her since preschool –not known known her, but she’d always there. They had grown up around each other, and she’d always been like that.

But the real feud had started two years before. They had been on a class trip to the fair. He’d declared he was getting Terra, his crush and almost-girlfriend at the time, the biggest plushy they had. A crowd had gathered as he managed it; it had been a glorious moment, and then Raven had said, as he gave Terra the prize, “A giant chicken. That must be the luckiest girl in the world.” Even Terra had laughed, and it had ruined whatever effect his achievement had had. That had been his first and last chance to impress Terra, who had since moved away. His first love, gone. He’d written two songs about it.

“In this one the colors match the dress better,” Kori was telling Raven. “But this one is so delicate, and a classic.”

Victor and Dick both scrolled through their phones on Raven’s bedroom floor. It was the same deliberation Kori had been stuck with all morning.

Raven sat on her vanity dresser with two fingers cupping her chin. “The teal one,” she stated, so certain Dick looked up to see how it would float with Kori. Raven had offered more certainty in a second than the three boys all morning.

“Really?” Kori returned, eyes wide. “But the silver one…”

“Is a safe choice. And it ages you.”

“It does!?”

Gar was appalled. The roughness of her tone pushed him over the edge. “God, why’d you have to be such a hater? She looks pretty either way.”

The outburst made everyone look at him, given the fact it was first time he spoke all afternoon.

“Excuse me?” returned Raven.

“I’m saying you don’t have to be mean.”

“I’m not,” Raven stated. “I’m trying to help her.”

Kori moved to agree. “Gar, I asked for her opinion, she’s helping me as a friend.”

“She didn’t have to be a jerk about it,” Gar sustained, crossing his arms.

Dick, closest to him, bumped him on the arm, wordlessly telling him to knock it off.

And there, proof the enmity was real and mutual, was how quickly Raven turned to big guns when she said, “I don’t know what your problem is with me, but no one’s forcing you to be here.”

Vic spoke up. “Raven, don’t listen to him, he speaks without thinking, ever.”

Gar was perhaps more offended by Vic’s dismissal than Raven’s affront. “I mean what I said. And I’d leave if I could,” he told Raven. “Vic’s my ride and he’s ignoring me.”

Raven set her questioning gaze on Victor.

Vic offered a tremulous smile. “I’ll just take him home.”

Dick saw them outside, and lingered by the porch door. “Guys, I’m gonna wait for Kori.”

“’Kay. I’m gonna put this baby down for a nap,” replied Vic, and gave Gar a strong hack in the back as they left the premises of the enemy.

Gar didn’t care. One way or another, he was out of Raven’s house, and he counted that as a win.

───

As Vic pulled up before Gar’s door, he said, “Last chance, you’re really not going to our prom?”

“Duh, I’m going to the prom my date’s at,” Gar replied, face brightening at the thought of tonight.

Vic snorted. “Some date,” he muttered, but Gar just closed the car door on him, pretending he hadn’t heard.

He refused to think badly about tonight. Sure, he hadn’t actually asked out his date, or she him; sure, it had been arranged by his new friends from Terrance High, who had finally let him into his group after months of effort in befriending their unofficial leader Terry while they both worked the cinema candy counter; sure, he hadn’t ever seen Angelica before, except once at a distance because she was angry at one of the boys and was keeping away from them where they could still see her.

But a date was a date. He’d rather go to a different school’s prom than show up to his own dateless. In his room, he beamed at the suit hanging on his wardrobe doorand did the check for the hundredth time: suit, shirt, tie, corsage. All ready. He wouldn’t let anything ruin tonight.

───

[Friday, 6pm. 1 hour to Prom.]

Right from the start Gar could tell something was wrong. The Terrance group pre-gamed at a weird sleazy bar-slash-gym called Dark Side Club Gar had never known existed in town before, where Angelica had taken one look at him and her mouth had twisted, and Gar had known she found him disappointing. Now she faced away from him as he awkwardly chatted along with the others, left to wonder what he’d done wrong. Was it his suit? He had gotten it on sale, but could people actually tell? Could girls? Or was it he was a head shorter than her? He also wished he could’ve fixed that, but there was nothing he could do if his promised growth spurt hadn’t happened by the end of high school. Had she changed her mind about him? Had she ever wanted to go to prom with him in the first place? Everyone else seemed to think it was funny, smirking when Gar would talk and Angelica would blank him or talk over him.

After an awkward hangout, destiny was sealed when they left the Club and Angelica suddenly turned to Gar and asked him to get her chips from the convenience store across the street. Gar, eager to please and elated she had acknowledged him, jumped at the request.

He probably did feel the foreboding as he chose the chips and stood in line; there had to be a reason he wouldn’t look out the window while he chatted with the cashier and paid.

When he left the store, the car was gone.

It didn’t surprise him as much as it should have. He had sensed the odd energy,seen the smirks, the runaway glances. He had thought it was odd his date had suddenly talked to him after a night of ignoring him. He wasn’t surprised. Or maybe the big gaping hollowness on his chest didn’t leave room for anything else, surprise included.

Had they planned it from the start? Had it been a spur of the moment cruelty of Angelica’s? It didn’t really matter. It still meant Gar would have a senior prom-shaped hole in his life.

───

He didn’t really mind where his feet took him. He really should have. Because the next time he looked up, his eyes fell on a girl sitting on a bench at the end of the sidewalk. The fact that she was dressed to the nines in a pretty flowy back dress caught his attention first. The fact that he recognized her came second.

Raven had been looking at her phone. If Gar hadn’t made a choked sound in surprise, she might not have seen him. But he did, and she did, and Gar saw her face freeze in a way that must mirror his.Of all people, he thought, it has to be you that sees this.

Raven’s face went through changes he didn’t understand: she looked away, then back at him, did a double take and looked him up and down, only then seeming to notice his suit. “Are you… walking to prom?”

Gar coughed. “I’m… my plans fell through.” He shoved hands in pockets, tried to look nonchalant. “I was going to the Terrance High prom with a group, but…” he shrugged vaguely, having no idea how she’d interpret that. Was he playing he’d lost interest in prom and walked away? He had no idea what his story was. This was too raw for him to pull an act over it.

“Oh? Did you pick a senseless fight with them too?”

And he was too raw to mask the effect of her jab on his face.

“What about you?” he said, to throw the onus on her. “Didn’t you have a boyfriend? Where is he? It’s past seven.”

Gar didn’t immediately understand when her eyes widened in a vulnerable expression he was unprepared to see in her; when she looked down, it hit him. Oh. Oh no. He hadn’t thought he was witnessing someone being actually stood up—he’d thought her date was late.

He had been so focused on her witnessing his embarrassment he hadn’t realized he’d walked into hers.And he thought she was callous.

He decided honesty was the best policy. “Sorry… I said it because I thought you were waiting to be picked up.”

“I am,” she said.

He didn’t know if she was trying to save face or she truly thought her boyfriend might still show up.

“Did you have a fight?” he asked. Why was he trying to comfort Raven Roch?

“No, Michael is…” She paused. Her tone was dry and detached when she completed, “You want the truth? I was just trying to make it last until prom.”

“What?” And here he’d thought Raven was perfectly happy with her super-tall boyfriend.

“I knew it was doomed. I just wanted a proper prom night with a boyfriend. But he couldn’t even do that for me.”

If she was any other girl he’d be touching her shoulder right now. “You wouldn’t have enjoyed prom with a crappy guy anyway,” he said sensibly.

“Maybe,” she replied immediately. “Maybe memory would have smoothed everything over and looking back I would think I enjoyed the night.”

She said that like she’d given it some thought, done the math and concluded a crappy date was better than nothing. Like Angelica was for him. Both of them were two unlucky kids who’d settled for the date they could find for senior prom. He sat next to her on the bench, where he deflated. “So are you gonna wait for him?”

She made a low grumble. “Probably gonna sneak back home. I don’t feel like explaining this to my mom.”

Gar kicked a rock with the point of his shoe for a moment, before he took a deep breath in preparation to say the obvious thing. “Raven. Fuck it. Let’s go to prom.” And he barreled over before her shocked face could deter him. “This is ridiculous, we’re all dressed up, what are we gonna do? Go to bed? Let’s go to prom.”

“With you?” she replied. “And you with me? We can’t stand each other, we’ll have a terrible time.”

“Maybe. Or maybe memory will make you think you were super into me.”

She looked insulted at the thought. He winked, just because. He was elated to see her blush.

She crossed her arms. “I’d rather go to bed.”

“Raven, we’re seniors. This is our last chance to do prom at our school, with our friends, with our classmates. They’re all already there.”

“Says the guy who was perfectly fine going to another school’s prom until recently,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, well, this event has humbled me and shown me the error of my ways, now come on, let’s go.” And he stressed his words by jumping to his feet and daring to pull on her arm. She shook him off immediately. “Look, my tie’s got little birds on it and your dress has those feathery things,” he said, holding up his tie and gesturing to the feather-shaped tulle accents on her dress’ cap sleeves. “It’s fucking fate, dude!”

She focused on his tie. She hadn’t noticed the tiny black birds on a dark green background before. “Why the hell does your tie have birds?”

“It was the cutest thing with animals on it my mom said was still elegant enough for the dress code.” He tucked the tie back in as if to shake her eyes off it. “Look, the tie’s not important, what I’m saying is if we go together, it’ll look right.”

“Great argument. You so convinced me.”

“If you don’t cool it with the sarcasm I’ll just take you at face value and drag you along.”

“How are we gonna get there, genius?” she posed. “We both lost our rides and the school is miles away. And prom started long ago.”

But he acted like she’d said what he wanted to hear. “Ride’s your problem? Cool, I’m calling a cab.”

Raven watched him pull out his phone, mark the number, and put the phone to his ear. He waited for the call to connect with a determined look on his face, and she finally realized he was serious. And, well, Raven had always been a path-of-least-resistance kind of girl. But he would not be getting a cab on prom night.

Gar started when she put her hand over his arm. “Wait. I can get us a ride.”

───

[7:52 pm. Minus 52 minutes to prom.]

Raven’s available ride was her neighbor Azar, who was seventy years old and perfectly willing to help out, but warned the kids she wasn’t used to driving at night and would take it slow and safe. The frenzied teenagers assured her this was fine.

Azar drove so slowly it gave Raven time to regret things ten times over. She was about to say something –anything—something like “This is so dumb,” something that would cast Gar back down to Earth too, something that would make them look at each other and realize they should just go home-, but Gar was on an entirely different wavelength. When Raven looked over at him, he was hard at work trying the car lights in different combinations; the ceiling light, then the ones over each of the back seats, then both, the just the left one. She was about to ask what he was doing when he took out his phone, set it on frontal camera and scooted closer to her side.

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m scared you’re gonna push us past the photo booth when we get there, so I’m taking control of the situation.”

He took a picture. Raven had just enough time to see her own floored face staring back at her, next to Gar’s smile with the tooth sticking out. Gar checked the picture with a smile and put his phone back.

“You’re not gonna tell me to smile?” Raven asked.

“Nah. This is more true to life,” he declared.

For some reason, that was strangely heartwarming to her. No one easily accepted her resting bitch face in photos. It was nice to not have to fight someone on this. Raven felt some of her doubt slip away. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

───

Never mind. It was bad.

Why was everyone staring at them? Was it that weird she’d showed up with the class clown? Was everyone wondering where her boyfriend was? Did everyone even know she used to have a boyfriend? Raven had personally made it through high school ignoring ninety percent of her classmates, but kids she’d never talked to were now staring at her like they had strong opinions about her. She wanted to crawl into a hole.

“They’ll stop staring in two minutes,” came Gar’s voice next to her. “Take it from the class clown. People’s attention doesn’t last.”

Maybe it was because they were among their classmates now, but having Gar next to her, whispering to her, made Raven feel… weird. It felt intimate in a way that… wasn’t entirely unwelcome. Maybe it was because she felt they were a team against the rest of them—and she’d never been in a team that included Gar Logan.

Their friends spotted them before Gar and Raven located them. The unlikely couple approached their puzzled friends, and on reaching them, Gar simply said “’Sup. We had a change of heart.”

Kori’s face hardened as she set a knowing gaze on Raven. “Michael?”

“Yep,” said Raven.

“Tell me you’re breaking up with him.”

“Oh yeah. Tomorrow, when he shows up with flowers all apologetic… I’m gonna dump him.”

In turn, Vic crossed his arms at Gar. “The Terrance High losers pulled something on you, didn’t they?”

Gar furrowed his brows at Vic. “Nope, I decided to blow them off.” And before Vic’s anger could reach him, he pulled Raven’s hand. “C’mon, Raven, let’s dance.”

───

Gar was right, people were long done staring as they danced, even though they were a bigger spectacle now: they had come just in time for the slow songs.

“You’re happy we came, right?” Gar asked her.

“Yeah, I am,” she replied sincerely.

His face brightened at the response. “See? Sometimes it’s better to do things than… not do them.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” she stated, with an edge on her voice.

But her sarcasm didn’t rub him the wrong way anymore. He didn’t know why, but he felt he understood her better now. In fact, as she swayed before him with a relaxed look on her face, he struggled to remember why he had ever disliked her.

Gar looked past her head and only then saw the big sign on the wall and remembered the theme of the dance: ‘Date with destiny’.

Huh. He tried very hard not to take in the subtext.

But was it dumb to take this for the big movie ending? To think this might last and, come Monday, they would keep… getting along, at least? Was this just for tonight? Just because he was the only prom date alternative around? Could this keep going? Maybe… evolve?

Raven suddenly cast her eyes down, and Gar internally panicked—had some of what he’d been almost thinking translated into his face? Before he could even process it himself?

She had just shrugged off a bad boyfriend, he reminded himself. It wasn’t the time anyway.

He shouldn’t even be thinking of big what-ifs, but… friendship. Friendship was good enough for him. He didn’t have to know now where this was going. This morning, did he think he would be slow dancing with Raven Roch by the end of the day? Absolutely not. So he didn’t have to know now. He could be in the moment and wait for what the future held.

───

Notes:

*whispers* Enemies to last-minute prom dates 🤩

I know exactly what Gar and Rae are wearing in my mind I just didn't have the time to hunt down reference photos :(

My brain is fried, just enjoy! ❤️

#bbrae #bbraeweek #2022 #garfield logan #rachel roth #beastboy #raven #tt #teen titans

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bbraeweek20 · 2 years

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BBRaeweek 2022: Secrets

There had always been something that felt wrong about keeping or maintaining a secret; but Beastboy couldn’t deny that the secret he and Raven had felt so wickedly good. They were in a relationship; a romance that fell together not from great forethought or potent revelations, but of an awkward admission by a rock near the sea after a long, long night.

They didn’t feel comfortable admitting their connection and love for one another for many reasons; one being the emotional pressure as it could have been possibly too much for Raven to handle. Another was neither feeling ready to be subjected to the often-excessive lectures and warnings from their leader, Nightwing. Or stat having Starfire and Cyborg inviting themselves to activities that they wanted to do by themselves.

So, they came up with the secret; each would come up with reasons to get out of the Tower and once out of sight, out of mind they would meet up for the romantic ventures. Sometimes they would just get coffee and watch the sunset over the bay; other times they would go to the Jump City Memorial Theatre for plays and concerts. Whenever they got an idea for a small get away or adventure; they would discuss it and start to plan on how they were going to put distance from their friends and team mates.

Beastboy just smiled at all the thoughts and memories of their deeply passionate and personal romance as he held Raven’s hand; watching the sunrise on a mountain-side. “This truly is something special.” He spoke softly to Raven.

“Like watching the heavens split open as the world and all that is above join once more.” Raven whispered as clouds and morning fog parted allowing the rays of blues, pinks and yellows to streak across the sky. Her smile paused as a thought flittered into her mind and she turned to look up to Beastboy. “How come you haven’t pushed for this to be a public relationship?”

“You said you wanted this on the down-low; quiet because emotional noise can overwhelm you.” Beastboy answered simply. “I love you deeply and know how overwhelming emotional noise can be, especially after Queen Marionette swapped our bodies.” He squeezed her hand gently. “I won’t pressure or push you until you’re good and ready. When it comes to becoming a public couple like Starfire and Nightwing you lead, I’ll follow.”

The thoughtful and well-intentioned response soothed any potential anxieties the sorceress could have developed. “Thank you for that.” She kissed his cheek and snuggled into his arms as they watched the birds fly overhead and the clouds clear. Just enjoying each other’s silent company and the panoramic beauty of nature unfolding before them. Before silently flying back towards their home; Titans Tower.

~Meanwhile at the Tower~

“I’m telling you it doesn’t add up. The last few months I had a program running GPS triangulation after the last invasion of the Tower. Exactly how it was discussed at the team emergency meeting.” Cyborg exclaimed looking at the coordinate data spreads for the resident shapeshifter and sorceress with Starfire and Nightwing behind him. “They end up in the same location for hours on end; despite massively different reasons for being out of the Tower.”

“Are you suspecting that there is a problem occurring between our friends?” Starfire quietly inquired.

“Whatever is happening it could become a detriment to the team; I think we need to go to their location immediately.” Nightwing stated.

“But there could be a perfectly normal explanation for their prolonged and isolated bonding. We often bond in isolation, despite my requests to incorporate the far more liberating Tamaranian approach to romance.” Starfire responded, smirking at her lover as he turned a deep shade of red.

“They’re a complicated pair, her emotional sensitivities and his animalistic primeval impulses. Maybe this is a release valve practise; he stays constantly shapeshifting, not thinking and exerting energy and she gets nothing but the emotional white noise.” Cyborg quickly countered, trying to avoid learning more about his leader’s and teammate’s love life.

“That doesn’t explain the constant visits to the Jump Memorial Theatre and Desert Candy: Games and Hobbies. One is massively popular art performance venue and the other is from reports a tabletop roleplaying game enthusiast shop.” Nightwing critiqued Cyborg’s answer.

“Way to make theatre of the mind sound so dweeby.” Cyborg joked before returning to the spreadsheet of data. “I mean what if Star is right? What if they are just in a super-secret romance?” Cyborg posited.

“I wasn’t exactly positing that; I was positing that they were friends with benefits; but a romance could also easily explain their time together.” Starfire said bluntly.

“Having sex … in a game shop!?” Nightwing questioned with incredulity.

“Both are quiet, neat and upstanding citizens with deeply complicated emotional needs. What is that Earth saying? It’s always the shy, quiet ones that are the freakiest.” Starfire smirked with satisfaction at how she had proved her own point.

Cyborg coughed before saying very quickly. “Well; that speculation aside… I think I am just going to video call BB. Because he should be at the arcade, like he said he would be so shouldn’t have an issue answering.”

“If he does?” Nightwing prodded.

“We wait; any of the proposed theories work, symbiotic cognitive/empathic release valve, friends with benefits indulging and enjoying each other or a beautiful fashioned and growing romance. We have no information that posits that they are at risk or in any danger or threat.” Starfire stated. “Maybe call again in ten minutes.”

“We simply confront them when they return to the Tower; gently.” Cyborg answered Nightwing. “Unaccounted for time could pose a safety risk to the Tower or the Titans Network. If any of the aforementioned reasons is why they’re doing this. They can tell us and be a little more honest about where they are and who they’re with.” The cybernetic hero finished before releasing a big breath.

“If it was a romance, how would we have all missed the signs?” He asked looking to Starfire and Nightwing.

“A combined effort; they both know what we view as normal and were able to duplicate that easily as to avoid us noticing their private enounters.” Starfire stated.

“We only know that it was happening after Quicksave, Corruptorix and their leader Red Ring invaded the Tower and tried to destroy the Titans Network and steal Cyborg three months ago.” Nightwing pointed out. “Had that not happened; we wouldn’t have had the data that proved they were even together.”

“Maybe that was by design. They are private people who struggle with how people respond to them.” Cyborg nodded along.

“It was.” A soft voice rang out into the comms room, causing the three heroes to jump into the air. Seeing Beastboy and Raven

“I guess the secret is out of the bag, huh?” Beastboy softly quipped, scratching the back of his lightly from a mixture of amusement and embarrassment.

#bbrae #2022 #bbraeweek #Secrets #beastboy #raven #teen titans

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bbraeweek20 · 2 years

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BBRaeweek22 Day 1: Meeting the Family

The Tower was quiet as many of the Titans were out on missions or aiding their fellow international members on their own cases. That was why Raven was bemused to see the full team of the Doom Patrol standing idle within the central comms room of the Titans Tower. Raven merely quirked an eyebrow at the four older heroes, before floating to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of herbal tea. “Can I help you with anything? We rarely ever get surprise guests; except of course; when we’re being invaded.” Raven calmly stated as she picked up her cup and sat down facing the Beastboy’s adopted family.

There was no answer to her question or to her jabbing quip, Mento just continued to stare at her with a stoic and stone-faced expression before talking. “I think you know why we’re here.” Mento spoke sternly as he pulled out a chair spun it around and sat on it. “Garfield is a good man and has a great many talents, and pretending he isn’t lying to a psychic isn’t one of them.”

The air between the Doom Patrol and the lone Titan grew heavy as an unseen tension started to rise.

“I certainly have no idea as to what you’re implying. I speak in absolutes not weasel words, try that again and this time; say the quiet part loud.” Raven retorted without showing a single emotion on her face.

That was when Robotman blurted out, interrupting the back and forth. “Disco-hat here wants to be sure there isn’t some ulterior motive or something… Like you havin’ daddy issues or somethin’.” The older cyborg finished weakly as Raven turned to look at him.

“First off; I don’t have daddy issues. Second, my father is an inter-dimensional demon lord who swallows all life from world to world; so, we do not get along in the slightest.” Raven answered not blinking as she took a sip of her tea. “If that was everything, feel free to leave or is there more to this impromptu house call while Garfield isn’t here?” She inquired.

“Perceptive, aren’t you?” Mento quipped.

“No. I am simply not stupid and you overplayed your hand. As much as Gar talks about me to you; he talks about you to me. Out with it; we haven’t all day Steven.” Raven bit back with her iconic half-smile as she took a deep sip from her drink before she planted her cup on the table.

There was a pregnant pause as Mento’s face slipped into a grimace before he let out a hissing sigh and tried to regain composure.

“What do you plan to do with Garfield?” The question perplexed Raven as she quirked an eyebrow at the older hero.

“I fail to understand the question? Garfield is a person; I don’t plan to do anything with him without his acknowledgment or active and enthusiastic consent. I refuse to play this game of word semantics.” Raven boldly rebuffed. She turned moved her gaze past Mento and towards Elastigirl. “Rita; I must give you a warm thank you. The tea you told Gar to get me has been absolutely delightful.”

“The thanks for that goes to Larry; he has a more refined palette than me.” Elastigirl said, smiling warmly as she stepped beside her husband and placed a hand on Mento’s shoulder. “What Steve has been trying to do is inquire about the nature of your relationship. Is it a temporary scenario for you; or do you wish to pursue a more permanent dynamic with Garfield?”

“Are you seriously asking if I am as the kids say ‘hitting and quitting’, Garfield?” Raven asked with incredulity. A small laugh escaped her as she even began to ponder how Mento conjured up that idea.

“More or less. The kid’s got a big heart, don’t wanna see ‘em get hurt.” Negative Man spoke up with an emotionless tone. “Especially after how his first romance went.”

Negative Man’s comments gave Raven pause as she recollected what could have been Beastboy’s first romance until it hit her: Terra.

“Terra was distraught and had many deep emotional and mental issues. They went unchecked and untended to; in the end she died a hero. I think that’s how Garfield chooses to remember her.” Raven looked at Mento to gauge his reaction; this time the man was controlling his expression expertly well.

“I assume because of my connection to my father; the world-eating nightmare, you think I might one day lose control and do something terrible to him?” Raven asked.

“If the blonde could, who says you can’t?” Mento responded.

“You are comparing apples to oranges in this case. I was raised from birth understanding my powers, my heritage and the dangers that both of those things can cause.” Raven argued, feeling her anger boil at the implied remark that she was an unstable timebomb. “What I would give for five minutes in the Octagon with that bastard!” Rage roared within Raven’s mind. “Terra was manipulated by an expert on the subject and had what little control over her powers stolen from her and her emotions pushed to extremes and turned loose on us. Don’t simplify her story.”

“You really care for the green goofball don’t ya?” Robotman bluntly asked.

“With every fibre of my being; he makes my days brighter just by being here. I would never hurt him.” Raven said every word with strong and unrepentant resolve. Mento didn’t say anything for a moment; before getting up and started to walk to the Doom Jet.

“I have heard everything I need to hear. Welcome to the family; I expect both you and Garfield over for Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

“That’s it? The entire Doom Patrol broke into my home just to give me the third degree and the classic ‘If you break my kid’s heart’ speech.” Raven called out, still processing the incredulity of everything that had just taken place over several stressfully tense minutes.

“Bout the size of it. They care for the goof… Wanted to know if you’ll treat him right.” Negative Man bluntly responded before leaving.

“An Steve heard all he needed to hear. He’s not kidding by the way; he will be expecting you two for the holidays.” Robotman stated as he left as well.

“Steve is complicated and what we do isn’t easier to explain. We’ve seen possible futures and… it has left him anxious. He just wanted to know his son was happy.” Elastigirl spoke as she hugged Raven before turning towards the Doom Jet.

The purple and chrome coloured sky-craft rocketed up into the sky and disappeared beyond the horizon; leaving behind Jump City’s local sorceress as she contended with a swirl of emotions.

“They like us!” Happy cheered

“They accept and endorse our love. That is beyond amazing.” Love was beside herself with happiness

“That was an excellent and eye-opening encounter, I feel we have learnt so much about his family from this conversation.” Knowledge noted.

“As well as a clear and concise construct of their emotional needs and moral centres. They are complicated characters indeed.” Wisdom observed.

“T-t-that was terrifying.” Timid squeaked out.

“Did they think they could have forced us to break up!?” Rage hissed out.

“We should go find Gar! Give him a kiss and tell em the good news.” Brave said “that we meet the family and that they approve.”

“A think a phonecall would be more appropriate; seeing as he is on a stake out right now.” Raven thought to herself. “That, and I need a sounding board for everything that we’re feeling; its too much.” Raven winced as the beginnings of a headache was making itself known.

She dialled her jade lover and waited for him to pick up.

“What’s cooking Rae Rae?” His excitable voice was like music to her ears.

“Doom Patrol visited just now. We’re invited to all the usual holiday events.” Raven summarised awkwardly.

“Aww man… Mento gave you the third degree why? Why would he do that?” Garfield questioned.

“He was under the impression I was going to sleep with you and dump you, or mistakenly believed our love may have been a long con by Trigon to enter our reality.”

“That… sounds on point for Steve. What did you say?”

“I loved you with every fibre of my being and nothing happens between us without complete trust and consent. I may have also taken childish jabs at him.” Raven answered.

“That’s my girl! He needs to laugh more. Wait, did you say we both got invited to the big events?” Gar questioned.

“Oh yes, I did say those words roughly in that order.” Raven sarcastically quipped. “But in all seriousness, before he left, he welcomed me into the family.”

“That means he really liked you and approves of you. When I get back, we are going to celebrate; how about that new up-scale waffle place you’ve been talking about?” Beastboy inquired as he had already begun planning the celebrations.

“That would be lovely Gar.”